We went over to Frank's partner's neighbor's home, where she so graciously offered us to stay, while she was visiting her daughter out of town. Before we went to bed, I changed Trey's diaper and noticed some red marks and bruises. I called Frank to look at it and he said it was probably from sliding down the stairs. I didn't feel great about that. But I will tell you that I am totally an over-reactor and Frank is an under-reactor. We tend to meet in the middle and we agreed to wait until the a.m.
(Side bar)
I know what you're thinking... What in the world??? Why didn't you take him somewhere? Call someone? --- We were told a story...we had no reason to think that this was anything more than what we were told. These were people we knew and trusted. The story seemed consistent at the time. Hind sight is 20/20 and what I would do to know then what I know now. (End of side bar)
Well, after a terrible night of sleep...we got up and headed to Frank's office. I didn't even take a shower. I went and showed the physician's assistant Trey's butt as soon as we got there. It was worse that morning than it had been the night before. She confirmed our feelings that it was more than an accident from sliding down the stairs.
An x-ray of Trey's right forearm revealed 2 fractures. His radius and his ulna were BOTH broken. I will never forget the look of that x-ray in my life. We were sent to an orthopedist who told us that Trey would have to have surgery to complete the break of his ulna so it would heal properly. We returned to Frank's office to wait until it was time for the surgery.
Frank's partner showed up at the office. He also happens to be the county coroner. He & his wife took pictures of all the marks/bruises on Trey. It was the most horrifying thing to experience. After he was done photographing Trey, he showed me on Trey's butt where a handprint could be seen. I thought I was going to throw up.
At 2pm on December 19th, Trey underwent surgery. Child protective services (CPS) was called. They took pictures again of Trey's injuries. The police department was called to file a report. CPS instructed us to take Trey to a Children's Hospital to be checked out from head-to-toe.
He had labs drawn to make sure he didn't have a clotting disorder and that his platelets were normal. Everything came back stone-cold normal. He was x-rayed from the top of his head to his toes. They were all normal. The child mal-treatment specialist was consulted. We were to follow up with CPS in our home county. We also followed up with the child mal-treatment specialist.
That night when we got home from Children's ER, we snuggled in our bed with Trey. I asked Trey what happened to him and he proceeded to tell me... "I fell on the dog, ...spanked my butt, he got loud, because I was crying...I wanted you, he threw me on the couch." (my paraphrase) Once again, ready to vomit.
(More soon...I know, long story. Tell me about it, I lived it.)
