Background: Heart transplant candidates may wait a considerable and usually indeterminable length of time for a donor heart, uncertain if they will live or die. Despite this, there appears to be little research exploring how people experience this wait. Method: A qualitative design employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Male patients (n=7) on the routine waiting list for a heart transplant at an advanced heart failure service in Scotland participated in a semi-structured in-depth interview. Results: Three major themes, each with inter-related sub-themes were produced from the data. 1) ‘Threatened self identity’: this theme covered the challenge posed to the mens’ identities as a consequence of illness and their wait for transplant. This included a ‘diminished self’ and an ‘unwanted ill self’. 2) ‘Uncertain life or death’: this theme concerned the continuing uncertainty men had to live and cope with, and included ‘contemplating dying’ and ‘the unknowns of transplant’. 3) ‘Complex coping’: this theme covered the challenges of coping during the emotionally and physically challenging wait for transplant. Conclusions: The importance of finding meaning in waiting is discussed in relation to the revised transactional model of stress and coping, and the implications for health care professionals are discussed. There is a need for health care professionals to appreciate the individual meaning patients ascribe to their experiences.