PURPOSE: This study was explored the experiences of the middle-aged women and tried to understand their lived experiences. METHOD: The data was collected from 9 participants living in Seoul from Sep. to Dec. 2003. Collection of data was by means of in-depth interviews. The analysis of the data was made the phenomenological analytic method suggested by Colaizzi(1978). RESULT: The 10 themes were extracted in this study ; sense of emptiness, repentance of one's past, decline of physical functions, lost one's youth, worry of children, thinking about future, importance of husband, importance of job, composure of mind, content with present life. CONCLUSION: Therefore, the helpful program should be developed and applied to extend positive lived experiences, and relieve or exclude negative lived experiences for the middle aged women.
Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Seoul ; Spouses ; Thinking

Pilonidal disease in the sacrococcygeal region usually presents as abscesses, recurrent inflammation, cellulitis or fistula tracks. However, few reports on actinomycosis affecting pilonidal sinuses have been published. We report a case of a 25-year-old woman who presented with a pilonidal abscess who underwent surgical drainage and debridement. Pus from the pilonidal abscess was sent for microbiology, which grew actinomyces turicensis associated with prevotella bivia and peptostreptococci. She was treated with oral amoxicillin-clavulanate after surgical drainage for one week and recovered well. Actinomycosis associated with pilonidal abscesses, though uncommon, should be recognized and can be satisfactorily treated with a combination of surgical drainage and antibiotics.
Abscess* ; Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cellulitis ; Debridement ; Drainage ; Female ; Fistula ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Pilonidal Sinus ; Prevotella ; Sacrococcygeal Region ; Suppuration