I didn't want to nag him, but that could have killed him

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to write a blog post because life happened and it was pretty damn scary. My husband had a bone infection.

He woke up one day complaining about shoulder pain. We assumed he slept in a bad position. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. We realised something was seriously wrong when a lump appeared on his neck/chest area. Things got hectic quickly after that. You can watch my Friday Night Confessional called "Go to the Doctor or Divorce Me" to find out more.

Neither one of us have heard of bone infections before, so this situation was completely new to both of us. The surgery involved removing the infection which included part of his clavicle bone and part of his sternum. The surgeon left a 2 1/2 inch wide by 3 inches deep incision open on his chest in order to allow the infection to drain. I was able to see his remaining clavicle bone and much more past that, although I had no idea what I was looking at.

He was instructed not to lift anything over 2 lbs while he was healing. As you can imagine, my hands have been pretty filled during this time and that my friends is why I haven't been around to write or make videos lately.

The hospital set up a visiting nurse to clean his dressing every day. The first nurse wasn't very professional. I won't get into too many details but the statement "Oh my God, it's so deep!", didn't give us too much confidence in her capabilities. Plus she came with absolutely no supplies, not even a scissor to cut the gauze. The next day a different nurse came and he was great.

He showed me how to change the dressing and I was on my own from then. It was gross so, I focused on following the nurse's instructions instead of thinking about what I was actually doing. Everyday I had to pull out the gauze, clean the wound and pack it with fresh gauze. This allows everything to drain out of the wound. The surgeon even gave me a B+ for my wound care ;-)

What I've Learned, Life Lesson

I don't care how much of a "nag" I have to be, I'll be on my husband's ass when it comes to his health. Bone infections do not simply go away. They have to be treated. If it was caught earlier, he might not have needed surgery.

I didn't want to be a nagging wife, so I didn't press the issue at first. By the time we caught it, his bone started to decay. If we waited any longer, it could have spread to his lungs, his heart, or his pancreas which is not easy to remove without making me a widow.

Thankfully, everything healed very well and he was given clearance to return to work earlier this week. I hope to be posting videos and blogs regularly very soon as well.