ARTICLE IN PRESS +Model Enferm Clin. 2020;xxx(xx):xxx---xxx www.elsevier.es/enfermeriaclinica ORIGINAL ARTICLE Experiences of young mastectomised Colombian women: An ethnographic study  Celmira Laza-Vásquez a,* , María Elena Rodríguez-Vélez b , Jasleidy Lasso Conde a , Alix Yaneth Perdomo-Romero a , Roland Pastells-Peiró b,c , Montserrat Gea-Sánchez b,c a Grupo de Investigación «Salud y Grupos Vulnerables», Programa de Enfermería, Universidad Surcolombiana, Neiva, Departamento del Huila, Colombia b Grupo de Estudios Sociedad, Salud, Educación y Cultura (GESEC), Facultad de Enfermería y Fisioterapia, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain c Grup de Recerca en Cures de la Salut (GRECS), Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida, Lleida, Spain Received 13 May 2019; accepted 24 September 2019 KEYWORDS Breast neoplasms; Mammaplasty; Qualitative research; Nursing Abstract Objective: To explore the experiences of a group of young women in relation to the reconstruc- tion of their breasts after mastectomy. Method: Focused ethnography, performed in the League against Cancer- Huila Section (Colom- bia). Through casual sampling oriented by criteria, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young women (diagnosed at 45 years or earlier) with breast cancer (reconstructed or not reconstructed after mastectomy) until saturation of discourse. Data collection was car- ried out between August-November 2017, after the endorsement of the Ethics Committee and the consent of the participants. Data was analysed using the thematic analysis technique after being anonymised. Results: Three issues emerged in the women’s discourses: 1) The social stigma of being a young woman with breast cancer; 2) Learning to live with a body transformed by disease and treatment; and 3) Surviving, which is the most important thing. Conclusions: Being a young woman, and suffering from breast cancer implies a diversity of changes that permanently alter the lives of women and their bodies. Women prioritise survival in order to take care of others over breast reconstruction. At a healthcare level, the cultural and gender perspective must be incorporated to design individualised nursing interventions that contribute to better care. © 2020 Elsevier Espa˜ na, S.L.U. All rights reserved. DOI of original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enfcli.2019.09.015  Please cite this article as: Laza-Vásquez C, Rodríguez-Vélez ME, Lasso Conde J, Perdomo-Romero AY, Pastells-Peiró R, Gea-Sánchez M. Experiencias de mujeres jóvenes colombianas mastectomizadas: un estudio etnográfico. Enferm Clin. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enfcli.2019.09.015 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: celmira.laza@usco.edu.co (C. Laza-Vásquez). 2445-1479/© 2020 Elsevier Espa˜ na, S.L.U. All rights reserved. ENFCLE-1105; No. of Pages 7