“It’s OK now as I am suffering from it since a long time”: a phenomenological understanding of what life is like for adolescents living with Chronic Renal Disease (CRD)

Chronic renal disease (CRD henceforth), results from a range of conditions that cause irreversible damage to the kidneys and is a recognised major medical problem worldwide. CRD in children and adolescent’s is an enervating condition requiring lifelong treatment in order ‘to survive’. Several researchers have criticised the research on children with CRD as most of these studies rely on standardised tools which seem to be grounded in objectivity and quantification. In this milieu, this Indian study adopts a qualitative approach underpinned by the philosophy of Husserlian phenomenology with descriptive phenomenology as a method. The primary purpose of the study was to delve into the lives of adolescents suffering from CRDs to understand their perceptions about how this challenging condition affects and changes their lives. The study findings uncovered a tapestry of complex interlinked changed ways of lives that the participants with such a condition must adopt along with constant daily struggle of conforming to a prescriptive way of life. The study outlined the lived experiences of these participants which were paradoxical in terms of suffering; hope in their struggle to deal with such a chronic condition and yet moving forward in life.