Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence with TVT Sling Surgery in Spain

“Hello, everyone. My name is Kay. I’m from Cork and six weeks ago I travelled to Spain to have surgery for stress urinary incontinence under the care of Professor Barry O’Reilly. SUI has been problematic for me for about five years now and started to gradually get worse with leaks, pads getting bigger and ultimately at the end of last year, ending up just leaking continuously.”

“I have tried all the medications and treatments available in Ireland, including physio examination and including Bulkomed and these have not been successful for me. But being stoic and Irish women, we just get on with it. And I have managed my life around SUI and whether that meant every walk, every exercise class, every event, every journey being planned around access to a bathroom and also access to somewhere where I could change pads multiple times a day.”

“It was ironic that this SUI became a real concern for me just as I hit my mid-50s and when my career was probably at its most fulfilling and challenging. I do a global role, I travel the world and I end up in large presentations with large audiences and large town halls. And it was here, really that SUI became the silent confidence derailer. I can’t tell you how many presentations that I have made where I am focused on delivering my topic, but knowing at exactly at that time I’m also wetting myself.”

“So I’m very happy to share that even at this early stage of six weeks, it looks like the surgery has really worked for me and I’m so looking forward to getting back to a life of where I can enjoy my sport, my personal life, but also my professional life. And definitely looking forward to getting on an aeroplane where I’m not sitting in the aisle seat next to the bathroom waiting for the seat belt sign to go off and doing that presentation. Certainly only focus on my topic and not worrying whether I’ve left the seat wet or whether those bulky pads are visible through my clothes, which have always, by the way, been black. So I’m sharing my story, just because I think this is something that’s going to impact majority of women throughout their lifetime.”

“And I’m so grateful to Barry O’Reilly that he started to think outside the box about how he could provide the surgery to his patients when the surgery is not available in Ireland. It was very daunting, to be honest, to consider going for the surgery and doing so in Spain. But Professor O’Reilly has partnered with Healthcare Abroad and this association have been absolutely amazing in arranging everything between flights, accommodation, the hospital, all the administration, even around the reimbursement for the surgery, which the HSE and the insurance companies.”

“So I hope that this might give some of you some hope and encourage you to go and seek some treatment for your SUI. I left it certainly too late, and I should have acted sooner. I’m very grateful to Professor Barry O’Reilly and to Healthcare Abroad and that, I can now get my life back. I think we all deserve to be able to thrive and fulfil our lives at any age. We are, and I’m certainly going to start enjoying mine.”