LYING ON THE couch of my Airbnb in Athens, three days post-excision surgery for endometriosis, I’m feeling achy, a little weary, but also elated. Elated because surgery has taken away my chronic pain. In just three hours, a surgeon was able to undo years of damage caused by undiagnosed endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a disease where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places in the body. According to the Endometriosis Association of Ireland, 155,000 people have the condition in Ireland. Yet, there is still no specialist in the country.

I’ve been one of the lucky ones, only experiencing symptoms of endometriosis for the last five years or so. But my pain has been severe and daily since August 2024, when I began to experience UTI-like symptoms without any infection present. I was in severe pain every time I used the bathroom, and had urinary urgency and frequency.

No medication could give me relief, I was bounced around between doctors and had visits to A&E where I was literally laughed at and told to ‘stop Googling’ when I told them I thought I had endometriosis. They advised me to take an STI test and gave me a prescription for Buscopan. I was on the public gyny waiting list for 10 months and I’m still waiting to be seen by urology.

My story is not exceptional: many Irish women, a lot with far more severe symptoms than mine, have experienced the same gaslighting and dismissal from the public health system in Ireland.

In April this year, in desperation, I decided to take matters into my own hands and began researching how I could get care abroad. I was still waiting for an appointment in Ireland at the time and was weary of the treatment on offer here. Without a full diagnosis, I started attending public events and conferences, meeting many other women who had the disease.

The symptoms during the heat this summer became too much for me and I decided to contact Dr Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos (or Dinos, as he is known to his Irish patients), an endo specialist in Athens, to arrange surgery. The constant pain was taking its toll on my mental and physical health and it was really impacting my quality of life. Other symptoms also came to the fore, spurred on by stress, such as severe bloating, stomach issues, bad period cramps, nausea and shooting pains down my back and legs.

After exchanging emails in July, and with the support of my GP, I was booked in for excision surgery just eight weeks away under the Cross Border Directive. It felt like a terrifying, but incredibly necessary endeavour.

In the run up to it, I was very anxious but blessed to have the support of my mam and sisters, and the other women who had made the same odyssey before me.

They guided me, step by step, down an overwhelming path that had, unfortunately, been used so many times before. In group chats, I was sent packing lists, meditation recordings, screenshots of the hospital and maps so that I could be as prepared as possible.

The lead-up to the surgery was hard. Myself and my mam landed in Athens after a 6am flight. In Dublin Airport, we met another medical voyager, on her way to the same doctor (her surgery was set to be two days before mine).

After securing our accommodation, we went straight to the consultation where I had an ultrasound and the doctor talked me through the consent forms for the surgery. He practised ‘informed consent’, which I had never heard of before in a medical setting. He asked what my preference would be if he found endometriosis in certain areas. For example, if I’d consent to a resection procedure if it was on my bowel or an appendectomy if it was on my appendix (mine had already been removed).

I was drained, overwhelmed, but very grateful for how transparent and compassionate he was. I felt more in control of the surgery’s outcome.

The next few days were a blur. We made an attempt to be tourists and see some of Athens’ sights, but I was fasting before the procedure and was emotionally and physically wiped. At pre-op assessments, we met another Irish woman. Her surgery was scheduled directly after mine.

By the time surgery day came around, I was too hungry to be anxious. We had a 5am wake up before going straight to the hospital for check in and the surgery was performed on schedule.

I’m still getting over the shock of the extent of the endometriosis inside me.

The doctor came to my bedside right after surgery and explained exactly what he found and how he treated it to myself and my mam. I found it all quite exhilarating, like a mystery unfolding before my eyes. A mystery of years of clear MRIs, normal blood results and endless questions. My bladder and uterus were fused together, my ovaries were beginning to adhere to my pelvic wall, my ureters (the tubes joining the kidney and bladder) were both fused to the abdominal wall, explaining where all my pain was from.

So now, three days post-surgery, I’ve hardly been able to sleep with excitement and relief. Though the illness is chronic and I have a long road ahead, I’m tender, a little stiff, but elated and deeply grateful for the care that I’ve received and the chance I’ve had to be liberated from pain. My body already feels unrecognisable, the inflammation is receding.

Soon, I fly home to Dublin, along with two other Irish women who have received the same care. I long for the day that the high level of specialist treatment and compassion in Athens is available to all who need it in Ireland, at home.

Katie Gartland is a 27-year-old Dubliner who runs a music school and teaches piano in Marino. She’s keen to advocate for an improvement in endometriosis treatment in Ireland and wants to support other people who are struggling with the condition. @kt_gartland