The last golf tournament that Fátima Fernández Cano played was the PIF London Championship of the Ladies European Tour in August last year. The next one she plays will almost certainly be in early 2027. A year and a half later. A year and a half of a genuine ordeal trapped in visits to doctors, check-ups, operations, recoveries, bad news, bureaucratic insurer mud, delays, “come back tomorrow”, uncertainty, insecurity and despair
The Galician golfer has an appointment tomorrow, Wednesday, at the hospital Andrew’s Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama, to undergo surgery again on her right hip. It is the same area she had operated on last August, although for a different reason. Last summer, when she decided to go under the knife fed up with the pain she had been suffering, the diagnosis was a torn labrum. It is the cartilage that lines the rim of the joint. In principle it was not a complex operation. It had to be repaired and in three or four months she should have been ready to return to training
After that time, already in December, Fátima began to do some swings, something delicate, some approaches, very slowly, little by little, restrained, cautiously, but she had discomfort. There was pain. As often happens in these cases, it was understood that these discomforts would be the consequence of the operation, you simply had to let more time pass. More time passed, but the pain remained. New visit to the doctor in January
It was then that she received another blow. The labrum was perfect, but the capsule that encloses the cartilage was open. That was where the pain came from. There was no choice but to open the joint again to close it. Did it remain open or did it close badly during the operation or did she have the bad luck that it opened afterwards? The doctors who reviewed the operation say it was the latter, that the first operation was impeccable. Just bad luck. Like when you take a car to the garage and know nothing about mechanics. You believe them and that’s that
Fátima sought up to three different opinions to put her mind at ease and make sure she was making the best decision. They all said the same. Back to the operating theatre. Well, that’s what had to be done. It was then that an administrative maze began, even worse and more damaging psychologically than the hip. The doctors understood that the operation should be covered by Fátima’s insurance, the same one that paid for the first procedure. After all, her current problem is nothing more than a consequence of that first operation
However, after many tug-of-wars, conversations and a hellish exchange of documentation, the insurer has decided that this procedure to close the capsule is not covered by the golfer’s policy. It is highly questionable, but Fátima is not willing to waste any more time. She needs to have the operation to get back to work as soon as possible, which is nothing other than playing professional golf
For this reason, the LPGA and Ladies European Tour golfer has taken a step forward and decided to cover the cost of the operation herself. Self-funded. As you might suspect, it is not a cheap procedure, it never is in the United States, but Fernández Cano had no other option. Thus, after another two weeks of delay waiting for the estimate, she now does have an appointment for this second operation. It will be this Wednesday
“When they gave me the estimate, I said yes and the operation date was set, I went out to celebrate. It seems like a joke, doesn’t it? Celebrating that you have to pay a substantial amount to have surgery. But it really was the first good news I had received in many months. At least now I see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, since honestly I was fed up, especially because of the waiting, the uncertainty has killed me”, the excellent Spanish athlete says sincerely
Fátima is going to pay for the operation and then will get lawyers involved to claim the cost from the insurer. It is a matter of shortening timescales, although financially it is a blow. It is not only the cost of the procedure, but the whole recovery and around a year and a half without earning money. Many friends have recommended that she start a crowdfunding campaign and the Galician is considering it
The doctors have told her that tomorrow’s procedure is simple and short. After that, she will be on crutches for a month and the estimate is that she should spend a further five months living a normal life, but without training, without picking up a club. They want to make sure there are no problems with that right hip. As things stand, in the best-case scenario, Fátima would not return to training until early October, when the seasons are coming to an end. It is likely she will not be able to play anything until 2027
She has held conversations with the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour and both circuits are maintaining her medical exemption. She has five tournaments on the American circuit and eight on the LET to add the points needed in 2025 to retain her card. “The hardest thing has been accepting that I have lost another full season of golf, but there is no choice but to accept it and already think about the comeback”, says Fátima. An absolute medical ordeal, although at least now there is some light at the end of the tunnel
