Red Sox Report: Jenks Reports Harrowing Experience

Friday, February 24, 2012

Scott Cordischi, GoLocal Sports Editor

Baseball may seem like a life or death situation here in New England where Red Sox fans are as passionate a group as there is in all of baseball. But for Boston reliever Bobby Jenks, it really was a matter of life and death this offseason after undergoing what he thought was routine surgery.

Jenks shared his harrowing experience with the media Thursday in Fort Myers. Here’s the crux of the story.

On December 12, Jenks had surgery to remove bone spurs in his back at Mass General Hospital. After returning home to Phoenix, a couple of weeks went by when Jenks noticed that the incision in his back was leaking fluid.

He tried to take care of matters himself by placing a bandage over it but the problem persisted. He then visited a doctor and had to undergo emergency surgery on December 30 to repair a “mistake.”

“I don’t know whose fault it was,” said Jenks, “but there was an error done inside.” "I had four bone spurs on my spine and we talked about taking the top two out. The third one was started but not finished, so basically there was a serrated edge that sliced me open in two different spots and I was leaking spinal fluid. (The spur) pulled off the bottom of my incision and blew up on me, which caused an infection to climb up that incision and now I had an infection in my spine. It was a combination of 'everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.'

"If I didn't have it done immediately, the infection could have gotten into my spinal fluid and up to my brain, and who knows what could have happened then? I could not be here right now."

As a result of this life-threatening experience, Jenks is nowhere near ready to play baseball. The club feels that a target date for a possible return might be somewhere around midseason.

But that’s not important right now. First and foremost, Jenks is attempting to return to full health . Getting his full range of motion back may be a challenge. If he can accomplish that, then he can begin to resume baseball activities.

The other aspect of this story surrounds the Boston Red Sox medical staff. Dr. Kirkham Wood performed the initial procedure on Jenks. He is the chief of the orthopedic spine service at Mass General. Although Dr. Wood isn’t a member of the Red Sox medical staff, one would assume that he performed the procedure based on the recommendation of the team’s medical staff. If that’s the case, this would appear to be another black eye for this group which has been questioned time and time again when it comes to both their diagnosis and their treatment of Red Sox players.

It has been written here and elsewhere in the past that many current and former players have sought out second and third opinions, not just for their own benefit, but because the reputation of the team’s medical staff has been called into question too frequently in recent years.

General Manager Ben Cherrington said that the team is beginning an investigation into the circumstances which required Jenks to have this emergency surgery on December 30.

Mass General released the following statement regarding Jenks surgery: "We are very sorry that Mr. Jenks experienced complications following his surgery, and we are glad that he is continuing to improve. It would be inappropriate for MGH to provide any specific information about Mr. Jenks' surgery without the consent of the patient and the Red Sox organization."

Jenks will start the season on the 60-day disabled list. He is in the second year of a 2-year deal worth $12 million. He pitched just 15 2/3 innings last season for Boston.

NOTES:

-A pitcher who was thought to be one of Boston’s offseason targets has announced that he may try a midseason comeback a la Roger Clemens. Roy Oswalt didn’t get any offers to his liking prior to the start of spring training so he informed Major League clubs that he will sit tight and consider a midseason return like Clemens did with the both the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. The 34-year old Oswalt went (9-10) with a 3.69 ERA for Philadelphia last year.

-4 members of Boston’s potential 5-man starting rotation this season threw live batting practice Thursday. Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves all tossed BP to minor leaguers.

-Thursday was a rather uneventful day as far as what big-name players reported to camp for the first time. While it was the official reporting date for position players, they had all arrived prior to Thursday in Fort Myers. Maybe they’re trying to impress their new manager Bobby Valentine?

-If Valentine is serious about the not wanting to “waste” the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury in the leadoff spot, here’s a look at what Boston’s line-up could look like this season:

1. Carl Crawford LF
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
3. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Kevin Youkilis 3B
6. David Ortiz DH
7. Cody Ross RF
8. Jared Slatalamacchia C
9. Nick Punto SS