Welcome to the Surgery Now patient stories blog, where we highlight the journeys of those who have trusted us with their care. Our patients’ stories reflect their courage, resilience, and the life-changing impact of the procedures they’ve undergone. Through their words, you’ll get an inside look at what it’s like to face surgery, from the first consultation to recovery, and beyond.

We hope these personal accounts offer reassurance, insight, and inspiration for anyone considering surgery.

Each story represents not just a procedure, but a renewed sense of confidence and health.

We start the first of our patient’s stories with Chris who travelled from Ireland to Spain using the Cross Border Directive Scheme for his Hip Replacement surgery. Here is what Chris had to say about his experience with Surgery Now.

My Journey with Surgery Now: Overcoming Hip Pain

Normally, I never leave reviews or take to social media to express an opinion on anything. However, I would like to make an exception and share with you my entire experience of the care, dedication, treatment, and professionalism I received from Surgery Now as a service and all of those involved in my procedure.

Initial Struggles with Hip Pain

In 2019, I started experiencing pain in my left hip, but as hospitals were dealing with Covid, my pain seemed less important. I continued with my life and carried on working through the pain; eventually, it started to get worse. In May of 2023, I went for an X-ray, as I was starting to struggle walking upstairs and being unable to put my socks and shoes on. I received a letter to say I had been put on a waiting list to see a surgeon and that I would need a hip replacement.

Facing Delays and Increasing Pain

In December of 2023, still having not heard from the hospital, I was feeling a lot worse. Pain was starting to take over my daily life—walking slower, unable to get off the toilet without holding on to the basin, limping at work, and generally feeling down. I returned to my doctor and explained that the pain was getting worse, and a letter was sent again to the hospital stating this. In January 2024, I received another letter from the hospital to say I was on a semi-urgent waiting list. I imagine it was due to the backlog of cases from Covid, but this did not ease my pain, nor were the painkillers now providing any relief.

Discovering the Cross Border Directive

In February 2024, I finally had to give up work, as I was on my feet all day and could no longer do my job to a professional standard. I rang the hospital to ask if they had any idea of a waiting time. When I said I was on a semi-urgent waiting list, I was told there was at least a two-year wait for urgent cases. I felt very hopeless; no one had even seen the pain I was in from the hospital. I really didn’t know what to do. I had heard about Cross Border Directive schemes, where you can go abroad for surgery that you can’t receive at home. The only issue was that you have to come up with the money upfront to pay for the surgery, but this will be reimbursed by the HSE. I managed to sort this issue, and my wife looked into various companies that provided this service and places where surgeries were done. It can be daunting being away for surgery—not knowing what to expect, being in pain, so much to organise, perhaps even a fear of having the surgery done, and if it’s done abroad, the language barrier.

Choosing Surgery Now

I can honestly say, having completed this surgery and 10 weeks on from the operation, there is nothing to worry about with Surgery Now. They literally do everything for you, as I will explain. All you have to do is basically show up and just concern yourself with getting better as the team organise everything. My advice, for what it’s worth: do not let the pain rule your life. If you are waiting a long time and you can manage to acquire the funds, I would definitely recommend going with Surgery Now and availing of the Cross Border Directive. Ten weeks on from my own surgery, I am totally pain-free from the pain I had. There is still some stiffness near surgery and muscles, but having not walked properly for two years, I was expecting that, and am walking and doing the physio exercises I was given.

A Smooth Recovery Journey

In fact, I have just seen a physio last week and no longer need crutches to walk or for support and can return to work soon. Obviously, recovery takes time and you need to do work to get well too, but none of this would have been possible without the surgery, and it was just so easy with Surgery Now. I would go so far as to say, had it not been for the intense pain I had, it was like a holiday and made so easy by the whole team.

Why I Chose Surgery Now

I had looked through a few companies that offered this scheme and the various travel and procedure times. I decided to go with Surgery Now as it was the easiest travel option for my situation. Little did I realise at that time, going with Surgery Now was much more than that. As I said, they made the whole travel and procedure so simple and treated me with dignity, friendship, and kindness. It was more like a holiday with family and friends involved than a very serious surgery.

Exceptional Support from Aneta

When I left my details with Surgery Now, they responded immediately. From March 12th to March 29th, I received telephone messages and at least 12 emails with initial medical details, creating me as a contact, explaining the procedure, cost breakdowns, travel, and everything I needed to know and consider what was involved. They were always open for me to contact them at any time with queries or concerns. They explained what forms I needed to sort out financial and medical, how to fill them in, and overviews of all involved. They had a very organised itinerary for my surgery, and I can only imagine they are the same for everyone’s individual case.

I was very surprised how quickly they would be able to take me as a patient. I could have been seen within three weeks of applying. However, I had been scheduled a cataract surgery at the end of April, and not realising how efficient and dedicated Surgery Now is at sorting procedures, was not actually ready to travel until July, when I would be organised myself. They even offered to do both my hip and cataract if I wanted abroad within two weeks. For my own peace of mind, having to sort things at home, I particularly wanted the surgery in July, even though by now I could hardly walk. Surgery Now listened to my concerns about this and arranged it for me.

I would like to say at this point a very big thank you to all at Surgery Now and the team at the IMED hospital in Benidorm who looked after me so well during my operation. There are many I want to name, but if I forget anyone, I apologise, but know all your work is very much appreciated. It is at this point I would like to make a special reference to Aneta. Aneta was the first person who I continuously dealt with at the start of my journey with Surgery Now. I don’t think I could have been luckier in getting someone as helpful, kind, and understanding in assisting me and explaining what would be involved in travelling and booking the procedure. From the end of March, she was always in contact and there for me with any questions via text messages and emails. Aneta made it feel like you were the only person she was looking after, and when you are in so much pain and don’t really want to worry about anything, it makes it special; such a personal touch goes a long way.

Personalized Scheduling and Care

I explained that I wanted to have the surgery in July and just wanted to be organised at home before I travelled. She totally understood. I looked into flights to Alicante and there were none at the weekends in July, which is when Surgery Now like to arrange to fit in with surgery. However, after explaining to her that there were no flights, she said to leave it with her. Within 30 minutes, she contacted me to say if I could fly on Wednesday 3rd of July, I could have the surgery on Friday 5th of July, and if I didn’t mind, I’d have to stay in hospital for the weekend—all to suit me travelling. Not only did she organise this for me, but she booked the Melia hotel for me, which was only 5 minutes from the hospital and physio sessions after the surgery. She was always available for me to contact with any questions before I travelled, sent me all the details I needed, and was always updating me with what to expect. I had nothing to worry about organising the travel apart from booking the flights; everything else was done for me abroad.

To be honest, I was quite sad when that part of my journey ended as Aneta had been so helpful. Her part of getting the dates and everything sorted travel-wise and arranging all the times was at an end. It was time for my travel abroad and the next people to help me were Alex and Martina. Their help and care once I arrived in Alicante to Benidorm was second to none and made the whole experience in Spain so easy. A really big thank you to Alex, who really did make my stay so easy and was there for me 24/7, from driving me back and forth, to listening, to encouraging me to use crutches, to being a friend.

Arrival in Spain and Meeting the Team

I received a message from Alex on the Sunday before I travelled, introducing herself and confirming she would be at the airport to collect me and to take me to the hotel. I didn’t have to worry about travelling or translations or getting about because Alex was there for me. A huge thank you to Alex because she was there for me for the duration of my stay and couldn’t have done more to make my experience any easier. After Alex collected me from the airport in Alicante, she drove me to the Melia hotel in Benidorm. She helped me check in and gave me a rough outline of the times for the rest of the week. Alex collected me on Thursday morning, took me to the hospital; by now I could hardly walk. She arranged for me to get a wheelchair to go around the hospital, which was so kind. I met Martina, who was very organised and arranged all my medical tests and got all the paperwork sorted for my operation. I will never forget that morning in the hospital; I was completely amazed. I got to the hospital at 8:05 am, I met Martina, got booked in, had an ECG, blood test, 4 X-rays, met the surgeon who was doing the operation and the anesthetist, and was back to the hotel for 9:35 am for breakfast with everything sorted for surgery the next day. The hotel Aneta had arranged for me to stay in, the Melia, not only was the location perfect for the hospital, was also near local shops, but the service and food was fantastic.

The Day of Surgery

Which leads me to the day of the operation, Friday 5th July. The hip replacement was carried out in the IMED hospital in Benidorm, one of Surgery Now’s choice of hospitals. Again, the care from all here was incredible and very professional. Alex collected me from the hotel and had me at the hospital for 9:00 am. She kindly looked after my passport, wallet, and phone for me. She told me she would not be able to get my phone to me until Saturday but would contact my family when I was out of surgery and let them know how I was. I had literally got to my room when I was taken straight down for surgery with no time to worry or think on things. As for the operation itself, all I remember was walking slowly into the theatre, laying on the bed, being asked to lie on my back… then I woke up in ICU.

Operation done, Alex was there, even though she didn’t have to be, and gave me my phone so I could talk to my family. I could say more about the staff and all at the hospital who were wonderful, but I will just take this opportunity to thank my surgeons and all the medical staff who looked after me in the ICU and in my room. Special thanks to Este, Miriam, Este, Isabelle, Laura, and Christa, to name a few, who really cared for me and made me feel comfortable. Everyone tried to speak English with me, which was way better than my limited Spanish, and if any medical person couldn’t speak English, there was a translator.

Post-Operation Care and Support

I was discharged on the Monday and was provided by Surgery Now with crutches and a walker to assist me in my road to recovery. Again, Alex was there for me; she collected me from the hospital and took me back to the hotel after collecting my prescription from the chemist. Alex helped me with my bags back to my hotel room. She gave me instructions on how to use the crutches and told me she would be back to take me to physio the next day. Surgery Now arranged for me to have physio sessions before I returned home, which were not only imperative but very beneficial. As I said before, as patients, we also have to do some work ourselves to regain our pain-free lives back. The physio department was part of the hospital, and again Surgery Now had found excellent trainers; both Miriam and Nicole were brilliant, kind, and understanding about the pain, but also encouraging to get moving again. The physio sessions really helped, and the exercises given, although hard at first to get going, were so useful. On Thursday, I met with my surgeon, and he gave me the all-clear to fly home, as well as answering my many, many questions with good humour. On Friday, one week after surgery, Alex took me back to Alicante to fly home. The whole experience was incredible from start to finish and handled with great organisation and professionalism by all at Surgery Now, but also with care, friendliness, and compassion, making the whole procedure very, very easy.

Returning Home and Recovery Progress

Within a week, I had my staples removed, with the scar healing well. In no time, with exercising gently and slowly finding my feet, I was able to walk around the house crutch-free. Not only that, but I am now able to walk upstairs, get off the toilet straight up, and drop on my right knee to do my shoe—the simple things that were proving so difficult before. So, 10 weeks on, I’m crutch-free, walking and exercising gently, and looking forward to going back to work. Most importantly though, I’m totally pain-free, something I didn’t think I would be able to say at the start of this year.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone again at Surgery Now for providing such a wonderful service—in my case, a life-changing service. I have no hesitation in recommending Surgery Now for those thinking of using the Cross Border Directive; the service is amazing. Do not put up with pain if you are on a long waiting list; if you can resource the funds, this would be a very beneficial service to use. If you have any worries, concerns, or fears of travelling, talk to the wonderful people who work at Surgery Now; I think you might be pleasantly surprised about how easy they make the whole journey.

Chris McElroy