For 18 months, Kelly Riley lived with constant pain.
A severely protruding disc in her lower spine was pressing on a nerve, with the inflammation causing excruciating pain in her lower back, hip and leg. Everyday activities such as sitting, standing, walking and even sleeping were a challenge, as was the toll on her mental health.
“I couldn't lay on my back, and my right hip was severely affected as well – so I could only lay on my left side for 18 months,” Kelly said.
“I couldn't straighten my body when I was laying down, so I was not sleeping, and also no pain medication was helping at all.”
The pain also took a toll on Kelly’s working life. Despite having a supportive workplace with a sit-stand desk and the ability to work from home one day a week, there was simply no position that provided relief – and the hour drive to the office was becoming unbearable.
She’d initially thought she could manage the problem herself using strategies that had worked for her in the past, but when things were just getting worse instead of better, she sought an official diagnosis.
"When you're in pain every waking minute, it affects your whole life," she said.
"It affects your mental health, your daily life – everything. You become another person when you're in that much pain."
“I went through lots of tests – nerve conduction tests, MRIs, CT bone scans, all sorts of things, before we reached the verdict of definitely needing surgery.
“There were no ifs, buts or maybes – that's just what it had to be.
Kelly first consulted a private surgeon, but was unable to afford the fees for that procedure.
With a referral to the public health system, she was soon placed on a Category 2 elective surgery waiting list – with an expected wait of up to 90 days.
About a month later, Kelly received a call offering her the opportunity to receive her surgery through Queensland Health's Surgery Connect program.
Surgery Connect partners with private hospitals and specialists to deliver elective surgery for clinically suitable public patients sooner, helping reduce waiting times while ensuring patients continue to receive publicly funded care at no cost.
More than 35,000 Surgery Connect surgeries have been performed since February 2025, leading to the lowest elective surgery waitlist in more than two years
If you meet the clinical suitability criteria for Surgery Connect, your local public hospital will identify you on the waiting list and help you through the consenting process.
"I'd never heard of Surgery Connect before, but I agreed straight away," Kelly said.
"Ninety days might not sound like a long time, but when you're living with that level of pain every day, it feels like a year.”
Kelly then underwent a lumbar discectomy performed by spinal surgeon Dr Craig Winter at Brisbane Private Hospital through the Surgery Connect program.
Noticing a difference almost immediately after waking from surgery and now recovering well, Kelly is grateful the program gave her access to the surgery she needed sooner than expected.
“As soon as I came out of surgery, I could feel that the pain had gone,” she said.
“As soon as I was able to get up and walk within that first day, I couldn't thank [Dr Winter] enough. I've said thank you to him five times or more.
“I'm just so grateful that the Surgery Connect program actually exists and that I got everything I was hoping for.
"The whole thing flowed really smoothly and I would highly recommend it.”