I have been my husband’s caregiver for the last 2 1/2 years now.

It stems from his safe return from Afghanistan back in 2012. He made it home from there without incident, but a short 6 weeks after his homecoming, we found ourselves making decisions that someone at 30 years old should never have to make.

He almost died before making it to the hospital that tragic night. He was out with a friend having some drinks and they were out walking when they decided to cross the street and almost made it across but my husband was ahead of his friend and he was struck by a car and broke all 4 limbs, had a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs, and broken back. He underwent 7 surgeries in a matter of 3 weeks to correct the bones that were broken when he was hit.

He was in a nursing home for rehab for 3 and 1/2 months. We spent our Christmas and New Year’s in the hospital and nursing home. He has since recovered as well as he will be able to, but we currently are waiting on more upcoming surgeries to further repair the damage from the accident.

He took a bad fall in the house and broke part of his kneecap, so now we are back to being totally wheelchair bound and not able to bear weight on his leg. He has since had to discharge from the Navy where he was in for 10 and 1/2 years, did 2 deployments (Kuwait and Afghanistan), a 4 and 1/2 year overseas duty in Japan, and was 9 and 1/2 years away from retiring.

I have had to watch my husband go from being physically fit to the man that is struggling to survive.

He is depressed from it all, he has been diagnosed with mental health issues that are being treated by the VA, due to his service record. I have had to reduce my working hours to help take care of all his needs, appointments, etc. So I work as a Pharmacy Technician and a ‘nurse’ at night.

Please always remember to talk to family because you sometimes don’t know if it will be the last time you see them.

Featured image: Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com