I THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY ‘MAN FLU’
As Serena’s husband fought for his life, she kept a diary she hoped he’d one day read
‘I had no idea what you went through’
When my husband Andy, 39, said he had a sore throat, I wasn’t too worried.
‘It must be man flu,’ I joked, trying to make him smile.
But when he had muscle spasms, pain and a fever, I took him to Alfred Hospital for tests.
‘He’s bad,’ the consultant told me.
An infection had caused a throat abscess, which had burst. Now he had a deep neck space infection and it was spreading around his body.
‘We’re not sure he’ll survive,’ the doctor said.
I waited in shock as Andy was taken for emergency surgery to clear as much infection as possible.
Still, Andy went downhill. As the bacteria, called Streptococcus anginosus, travelled through him, it began shutting down his body, organ by organ.
First, it went to his lungs, then his kidneys and liver.
He had six surgeries as doctors struggled to find the right antibiotics.
Each night, I’d write up what had happened and text it to his phone so he could read it when he recovered.
Hi darling, today was pretty rough. We really wanted your kidneys to start working, I wrote.
After 29 long days, he emerged groggily from his coma, requesting a kiwi fruit to eat. I was ecstatic!
Two-and-a-half weeks later, he came home.
He’d lost almost 20 kilos and could barely walk.
One day, he called me in tears.
‘I just found the texts you sent,’ he said. ‘I had no idea what you went through.’
‘I’m just glad you’re alive,’ I said.
Deciding he wanted to thank Alfred Hospital for saving his life, Andy signed up to run a 10km race.
Gradually his fitness improved and a year after he fell sick, he ran the race, raising $11,000.
‘I’m proud of you,’ I cried, giving him a big kiss at the finish line.
I’m so grateful to the medical staff who worked tirelessly to save Andy.
Thanks to them, we hopefully have a lifetime together.
Serena donated her payment to The Alfred Foundation. Visit give.everydayhero.com /au/andy-serena to donate