Should someone come with you?
For major surgery, transplants, cancer treatment and any treatment for a child, travelling with someone you trust is strongly advised. They help you through the first days after treatment, keep track of what doctors say and handle practical tasks while you rest. For shorter, simpler procedures, many fit adults travel alone and do well.
For a living-donor transplant, the donor travels with you and goes through their own assessment, so plan for them and for a separate companion if possible.
Visas for companions
Up to two companions can apply for the e-Medical Attendant visa, linked to the patient's e-Medical visa. With a regular medical visa, attendants are usually close family members and apply at the same embassy. Apply for everyone at the same time so the dates match, and check that each name is written exactly as in the passport.
What a companion does
Hospitals usually allow one attendant to stay with an adult patient, often in the room, and a parent with a child. The companion sits in on doctors' rounds, asks questions, keeps your papers and medicines in order, and keeps family at home informed. After discharge they help with meals, medicines, wound care and getting to follow-up appointments.
It helps if your companion is calm under pressure, comfortable with forms and phones, and well enough to walk and carry bags. Speaking English is useful but not essential, since interpreters are available.
Looking after the companion
Caring in a new country is tiring. Companions should bring their own regular medicines, sleep when they can and take short breaks outside the hospital. Large hospitals have cafeterias, prayer rooms and shops close by, and accommodation near the hospital makes alternating rest easier.
If two people come, they can take turns at the bedside. MedPrax stays in touch with the companion throughout the stay, which is often when they appreciate a local contact most.
Before you leave home
Agree who at home needs updates and how often. Share copies of passports, visas, the invitation letter and insurance documents with your companion, and save the hospital's and MedPrax's numbers in both phones. If the companion has a health condition of their own, they should check they are fit to travel too.