“I No Longer Felt Sick, I Always Felt Free”: Growing Up With Congenital Heart Disease and the Struggle for a Good Life—An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Lisa Nebel, Annika Freiberger, Claudia Dellas, Christoph Herrmann-Lingen, Daniel Broschmann, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Department of Congenital Heart Disease and Pediatric Cardiology, TUM University Hospital, German Heart Center Munich, Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Göttingen, German Center for Cardiovascular Research , Partner site Lower Saxony, Department of Geriatrics, University Medical Center Göttingen

Qualitative Health Research

Published online on November 18, 2025

Abstract

Qualitative Health Research, Ahead of Print.
Advancements in surgical, interventional, and intensive-care medicine have significantly increased the life expectancy of individuals born with congenital heart disease (CHD). As a result, growing numbers of affected children now reach adulthood. Despite ...