My name is Heather, I have a wonderful, loving husband named Joe and two beautiful sons, Adrian and Alex. We were a normal American family up until April 29, 2002. That is when we had all our hopes and dreams for our future put on hold by an overbearing CPS worker. Adrian had gotten his arm caught in between the bars of his crib and the wall while taking a nap. Joe and I both went to his room when he started to cry. Once Joe picked him up and held him, he stopped cryind and we all went downstairs together. I fed Adrian his dinner and we played with him for a while. We did notice that he was trying not to move his right arm. I thought maybe it was just a little sore from being stuck earlier. I took Adrian upstairs for his bath and got him ready for bed. Joe put him to bed and then we went back downstairs and watched a little T.V. before going to bed ourselves. Before falling asleep I told Joe that if Adrian's arm still seemed to bother him in the morning that I was going to take him to the emergency room.
When we woke up the next morning Adrian stll did not use his right arm for anything. So after taking Joe to work, I immediately went to Portsmouth Naval Hospital. I explained exactly what had happened to the doctor and he ordered X-rays. We walked back there and I was appalled by the way they treated my 7 month old baby. The X-ray techs were pulling on his arm and stretching it he was crying but I could do nothing about it. I was not allowed in the X-ray area because I was 3 months pregnant at the time. I told them that they were hurting him, they simply shrugged it off like it did not matter. Adrian and I were sent back to the ER. we waited a while and a doctor told me that his arm was not broken, just sprained. He then asked me about the scar on Adrian's head. I explained to him that Adrian had surgery on March 19th to have a shunt placed. He was born with hydrocephalus and fluid needed to be drained from his head. Upon hearing this the doctor ordered more X-rays. This time they did a full skeletal survey and found a hairline fracture in Adrian's right arm, in the same area that he had caught in his crib. No other injuries were found. They then ordered a CT Scan which showed abnormal fluid levels in his head. He had just had his shunt placed a month before and the Neurosergeon explained that the fluid had to be drained slowly. If too much was removed too fast then his brain could possibly collapse. So it was expected that the fluid still be there. They then ordered an MRI and from that they determined there was blood in his head. Which we already knew since the neurosergeon informed us of that over a month before. She told us that it was not uncommon for babies with hydrocephalus to easily sustain subdural hemotomas. Since the brain is basically misplaced by the excess fluid it becomes more sensitive to bumps and falls. Since Adrian was learning how to crawl we knew of numerous occasions where he had bumped his head, and one occasion where he had fallen off the couch. But the ER doctors called CPS to do an investigation. Pamela Kendal-Daiber, a name I wish I had never heard, told me I was not allowed to take Adrian home, they even put a bracelet on his foot that was hooked up to an alarm. They waited a week before we even went to court and they still kept Adrian from coming home. Adrian has been in foster care ever since. We have done everything in the foster care plan,yet they refuse to let him come home.
We only get to see Adrian every other Monday for 2 hours. The foster care worker, Shirley Bowie, has missed 4 of those appointments and been late to all the other. She even went so far as to send a letter to the judge making it look like it was my fault that she missed the appointments. She claimed that I cancelled the appointment. Why would I cancel an appointment that I have to spend $40 and drive for 4 hours to get to? And then show up for the appointment? I can't beleive the judge would belive anything that woman says. She has been taking Adrian to different doctors trying to get one to say that he is abused. NO DOCTOR SAID HE WAS ABUSED, JUST 2 IGNORANT CPS WORKERS.
Here is where it gets interesting, in July, our attorney called and informed us there was a warrent for Joes arrest...just 4 days before we had court. They arrested him based on a statement he made in the courtroom. He said," Yes, it is possible that I may have broken Adrian's arm when I took him out of the crib." OK sounds like an admission of an accident to me... NOT CHILD ABUSE! I was so upset, there I was, 7 months pregnant, my son was in foster care, my husband was in jail. I felt like my whole world was slipping away from me, and that was still not the end of it. I called a bondsman to get Joe out of jail, his co-workers and friends all pitched in to help me. My mother drove to Hampton for support. I had to give my wedding ring to the bondsman to get Joe out of jail. I should get it back in January if they stop screwing around with the court dates. Why is it that these so called officials think they can just put everything on hold while they take a vacation? So in January I am praying that Adrian will come home and I will get my wedding ring back, and we can start rebuilding our future. We had to move out of our home in Virginia because we just could not afford it with the lawyer. CPS IS SUPPOSED TO BE THERE TO HELP THE CHILDREN, NOT TO TAKE THEM AWAY FROM LOVING FAMILIES.
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