Patients who have undergone bone marrow transplantation: their quest for meaning.

This study investigates the processes of "meaning-making" and life interpretation as experienced by a group of patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation. Six adult male patients were followed until the 100th day after their transplantation or until their deaths. A hermeneutic study of their experiences revealed that they manipulated the meanings of their lives and sought meaning in their lives in two different ways: (1) they renegotiated their social position in a new situation, and (2) they tried to reach an understanding of their experiences as a whole.