ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the longer term: the process of recovering and rehabilitation. Patients had been asked whether they felt that their appearance had changed since first illness and surgery. The younger patients, aged below 50, tended to function more poorly than those aged 50 to 70. Patients had been asked whether people had changed in their attitude to them since surgery, and this was considered as a possible influence on social functioning. Around a quarter of the patients, whether living alone or with someone else, had not varied their social functioning either for better or worse. Patients had been asked how they felt generally at second interview, compared to before illness. When the second interviews were carried out, 53 of the original 71 interviewees had survived, 33 males and 20 females. At second interview, 15 people reported a reduction in income since their original illness and treatment.
