It was a normal night at home. I was eating yogurt and had just walked into my bedroom. Suddenly I heard Caleb let out a scream that in a mom's heart you know just isn't right. I hurriedly put my yogurt down and me, his dad and brother all came running. He was right outside my bedroom in the dining area, sitting on the floor with my nightgown around him, holding his leg. His thigh was swelling before our eyes. I immediately knew something was broken. I threw on some clothes (because I was in a nightgown), scooped up Caleb, Reco scooped up Coby and we ran out the door and head to the ER at Baptist East. Both boys are in a diaper and t-shirt, but somehow that didn't matter at this point. We get there and he's basically taken straight back to x-ray when they see the swelling and see how much pain he is in. While he's in x-ray, I fill out all the paperwork, and they finally bring him back with his leg in this contraption that prevents him from moving his leg and gives him some pain meds for the pain.
Doctor: "Caleb broke his femur, otherwise known as the thigh bone (puts up the x-ray for us to see). Because it's broken in this way (point to the vertical break...up and down). What happened?"
Me: "He was playing with my nightgown, probably trying to put it on, must have gotten tangled up in it, fell and I guess landed on his knee just the right way."
Doctor: "Ok. Well because this type of break is consistent with someone "twisting the leg", by law are required to contact DHR, which we have done and they are on the way to talk to you. We are not saying that you did anything wrong, it's just required by law."
Me: "Ok. That's fine. Thank you."
I honestly do not remember half of what I was thinking or saying... this was 4 years ago, and I have mommy brain now. The DHR Rep gets there and starts asking me a few questions. All of a sudden my heart starts beating fast, I'm getting nervous and feel like I'm being INTERROGATED!!! I am NOT liking this feeling.
Me: "Are you accusing me of abusing my son!!??"
DHR Rep: "No ma'am. This is normal protocol with breaks like this."
I sure can't tell because right now YOU'RE making me feel like a criminal!!! I am visibly upset and hurt. The DHR Rep tells us that he'll be back in a few minutes. Reco leaves the room with Coby, so it's me and Mimi (Reco's mom) left. I am for some reason trying to convince her that I would never ever hurt my child and she knows I wouldn't. She points out that the DHR Rep has left his bag on the counter and even says "He probably has a recorder in that bag to see what you'll say when he walks out." I should have looked in it! In the meantime the doctor is telling me that Caleb could stay in the hospital for 4 weeks or more in a similar contraption that he's in now to keep his leg still to heal, or that we can go to Children's Hospital in Birmingham where he may be in the hospital a week or less. Not even a question for me... we chose to go to Children's Hospital, so they call an ambulance to take us to Birmingham. Reco and Coby, and the DHR Rep come back in the room. I tell Reco that Caleb's going to Birmingham to Children's Hospital, and that I need to go home and get a change of clothes because I'm going with him. The DHR Rep hears me and asks "can I follow you home?" I tell him sure. At this point I'm mad that he has the audacity to accuse me of child abuse so I want him to see I have nothing to hide. We get to our house and I point out to him where he fell and that the nightgown is still laying on the floor, that my yogurt is still on my dresser, just where I put it down. I tell him to look around. I go into my closet in my bedroom to get some clothes. I hear my door close so I turn around to find the DHR Rep in my bedroom with the door closed.
DHR Rep: "Is there any domestic violence going on?"
Me: "WHAT!!!???" (my mind is saying are you freakin' serious)
DHR Rep: "Well because he's a black man living with a white woman."
O M G
Me: "No there's no domestic violence going on here, we don't fight and do not have problems and just because he's black and I have children by him and we live together does not mean there's domestic violence going on!"
The AUDACITY!!!
He quickly opens the bedroom door and on the way back to the ER I tell Reco what he did and he couldn't believe people actually still believe stupid stuff because of race. I can't even remember if the DHR Rep went back to the hospital. I was furious and hurt by that point. We got to Children's Hospital where they ended up putting a Spica Cast on him for 6 weeks.
You can see in the picture that it started at his chest, went all the way down to his ankle on his left leg (broken leg) and to his knee on the right leg, with an opening for a diaper. They did a fabulous job on the cast. They made all the openings around his ankle, knee, hips and chest soft and easy to clean. I would suggest anyone use Children's Hospital. A week later my sister seemed to have felt left out so she had to break her ankle!
I carried Caleb everywhere. Glad he had just turned 3 years old because I couldn't do it now, lol. I never heard from DHR again, so I guess they gave up on the accusations. I'll never forget that experience. And here are a couple more pics of him in the cast.
It was funny watching him maneuver in it, and he did exceptionally well considering. He flipped and flopped around the floor like a little fish. Hardly ever complained. He's a trooper!
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