FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In December, Bobby Jenks was not just fearful that his career was in jeopardy -- the right-handed reliever was terrified for his life.

The Red Sox reliever said Thursday that "a mistake" made during back surgery performed by a Red Sox-recommended medical team led to infection and an emergency second operation to correct what he termed a life-threatening situation.

Jenks had surgery to remove bone spurs in his back on Dec. 12 at Massachusetts General Hospital. The procedure was done by the hospital's chief of orthopedic spine services, Dr. Kirkham Wood. Jenks was back home in Phoenix a few weeks later when he noticed the incision in the middle of his back was leaking some kind of fluid.

Red Sox reliever Bobby Jenks detailed his harrowing offseason ordeal on Thursday. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

The Red Sox pitcher bandaged it up himself and first thought nothing of it. But the problem didn't subside, so after calling the Red Sox, he visited a doctor and was rushed into emergency surgery on Dec. 30 to repair what Jenks said could have been a life-threatening situation. That procedure was performed by spine surgeon Dr. Christopher Yeung.

"It was pretty serious," he said Thursday at training camp.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Thursday that the team was "very aware" of Jenks' complications.

"After the first procedure he stayed in Boston for a short amount of time," Cherington said. "He returned to Phoenix and appeared to be recovering, and then he had increased symptoms and was in touch with our medical staff and that's when we had him seen again in Phoenix. That's when it was determined he needed a second procedure. The second procedure seems to have resolved the issue and now he's in recovery and understandably frustrated that he's not further ahead. But we still feel he can help us this year."

"All I know is the second procedure needed to happen and that's unfortunate with any player that requires a surgery. You don't want to have to go back in there and do anything a second time, certainly (not) that soon thereafter. I can't speak to the specifics of what happened in the first procedure. It's not my area. There was something in there that wasn't taking the way it was planned. Got to go back in and clean it up again."

Jenks also had been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in September, and because of that issue he had to wait until December to undergo back surgery. Leading up to the surgery, he was working out and trying to get as physically strong as he could so his body could handle the procedure.

But Jenks was not expecting to have two surgeries.

"I don't know whose fault it was, but there was an error done inside," he said. "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.'