Saturday, February 4, 2012

Our Story

Hello,

My wife, Linda and I are reaching out to you for help. We have two children, a 2 year old girl who is in perfect health, and our now 1 year old son, who are in danger of being wrongfully taken by Child Protective services. Here is how we ended up where we are:

On November 8th, 2011 we noticed my son was feeling some pain and was running a low grade fever (100.2). I called an advice nurse that my wife's insurance provided. She recommended that we go to the ER because My son was only 5 weeks old at the time and when they're that young and running a fever you need to make sure they're okay. We went to the Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, OR and saw a doctor there. The triage nurse did an evaluation, noting that there were no bruises, swelling, or any external abnormalities, and the nurse even notes that all four extremities are moving strongly and equally. The ER Doctor performed a hip check and saw that the legs were pulled up tightly towards the abdomen. He explained that sometimes when babies have abdominal pain they'll pull their legs in tightly. Note that when the doctor manipulated My son's legs he let out a very loud scream, quite unlike we had heard before. The doctor ordered an x-ray to view My son's abdomen and hips. My wife left because we had quickly run to the ER, and while there our son dirtied his outfit and my wife had to find replacement clothes. I stayed and the x-ray technician came in to take some x-rays. At one point while we were moving My son the x-ray technician looked at me in a confused way and asked if the doctor had mentioned anything about My son's left leg. I replied that he hadn't. The technician left after taking his initial x-rays, and came back a half hour later to take specific pictures of the leg. He then came in again one more time to take a clearer picture of the leg. My wife had returned and the Doctor came in and told us that our son had a spiral femur fracture (We later learned that it was actually an oblique fracture and not a spiral). The doctor informed us that as protocol he had to notify the authorities and an investigation would take place. (It was also noted that he had gaseous distention from the x-rays)

We spoke to the police officer that came to see us and explained that there hadn't been anything traumatic that happened. Nobody dropped him, no one fell with him, nothing happened. While we spoke to the police officer we mentioned we came in because our son was having abdominal pain, thought to be bad gas, and a low grade fever. We mentioned that he had no bruises (which was confirmed by a nurse that was in the room at the time) and we told him we had no idea there was a fracture. My son was only mildly more fussy than normal, and as long as he was eating he was okay. The night before we also noticed a fever and we went to the store so he could have baby Tylenol and Gripe Water (Natural medicine to reduce gas). This seemed to work as it lowered his temp and calmed him down.

Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, OR was notified. Their EMT crew and a pediatrician arrived and wrapped up My son's leg. My son was transferred there in an ambulance with my wife. I had to run home and pick up some things for My son, and then I drove out there myself. While in the ambulance my wife was able to hear a pediatrician and an EMT discuss that they thought this was abuse and that it was only protocol to bring a parent. When they arrived at Doernbecher, a complete trauma workup was completed on My son. It was noted again that there were no bruises, swelling, lesions, abrasions, and that My son was content beyond his leg. It was noted that My son had extra cartilage on his skull but it was not trauma related. My son showed no symptoms of being in any pain or distress, though he did have a low grade fever. My wife had been advised to ask the ER doctor what could cause such injuries in an infant and was told that "It was either child abuse or you're lying (about there being no accident)." My son was sent to have a head CT done immediately. His results came back perfectly normal. There was no bleeding on the brain, no hemorrhaging, no skull fractures, or signs of trauma. My wife requested that a new doctor be placed with My son after the encounter with the previous doctor, and was given an advanced resident to look over My son. A full blood workup was run, including a spinal tap, to check for infection because of his low grade fever. My son, minus the blood drawing, remained content, fed well, and soothed easily. It was very hard for the doctors to draw blood from our son, and it took quite a lot of time for them to finally get anything, causing my son great pain in the process. On the spinal tap, on of the residents missed the spinal fluid and hit a vein, causing blood to become mixed in with the spinal fluid. They also took new x-rays while in the Doernbecher ER.

We were eventually moved to an inpatient room. They tried to draw more blood during the night, but they didn't tell us what the blood was being drawn for. We were also informed not to feed our son throughout the night so they could reset the bone, and he cried through the night in hunger pains. Despite all this, he wasn't given any medication because he was still soothing himself. The room was very cold at night, yet My son maintained a high temperature and was even sweating. In the morning a new nurse came in and said we could feed My son. They took a full skeletal survey in the morning where they noted the an acute left femoral diaphysis angulated oblique fracture, Age-indeterminate bilateral distal femoral, probable left and right proximal tibia metaphyseal corner fractures, probable age-indeterminate left proximal humeral metaphyseal corner fracture, probable partially healed proximal right tibia and fibula fracture, and healing bilateral rib fractures (Probably three). Note, the only fully confirmed fracture has been the left femur fracture and an age-indeterminate posterior rib fracture. This is also the point where they say it was on oblique fracture and not a spiral. A doctor came in to look at My son's eyes. She saw no retinal hemorrhaging, but noticed a mild discoloration in his eyes. She called in a superior who also noted that there was nothing wrong with his eyes, but that he did have mild discoloration. Again, My son was only 5 weeks old at the time. My son had seen many different doctors in this time, all noting that he look healthy an happy. My son had been in for a 1 week check, 2 week check, at about 3 1/2 weeks he was circumcised, he had visited the hospital twice because he was jaundice, and Linda's midwife had also seen him during one of her post birth visits the day before we went to the hospital.

They attempted to draw more blood, and continued to be unsuccessful, taking a full second day to gather the blood needed to send out for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta test and other tests. He was still on no medication until they decided to put an IV in his head where they used morphine. They took an abdominal CT because My son had high liver enzymes, but his CT came back perfectly normal. He was put into a Pavlik harness to help heal his femur fracture. A CPS worker, a detective, and a police captain, interviewed me, my wife, and my wife's parents. Everything we have said has been consistent. There hasn't been any trauma, and certainly no abuse. There have been no criminal charges filed either.

We had to appear in court for an emergency hearing. I had already obtained a lawyer but my wife hadn't had time yet. During the hearing the judge seemed to want to give us both of our children back. But child protective services lied and said there was liver damage and listed all fractures as fact, rather than possibilities. The judge reluctantly had My son put into a "Medical" foster home, while allowing us to keep our daughter (As long as we were in sight and sound of Linda's parents with our daughter).

It has been almost 3 months so far, and CPS continues to hold our son, and is attacking our parenting skills and the well being of both of our children. We have 3 1-hour visits a week with our son, and in the last month we discovered that our son now has an umbilical hernia. We asked that he be taken to see a doctor, but they informed us they had another appointment set up for his two month check and will have it looked at than. We have since discovered that our son does have low calcium, low vitamin D, high alkaline phosphatase. We have looked into many different possibilities, including OI, Rickets, TBBD, and other diseases that could have caused this. The OI test came back negative, but there are other options. Our son is Very big. At his two month check he weighed 15lbs and was 23 1/2 inches tall. Linda also had a rough pregnancy. We discovered that Linda has a retroverted uterus, and that My son was born at 41 5/7 weeks by induction with pitocin. My son had severe shoulder dystocia at birth, and had an initial apgar score of 3, taking a full minute to even breath. During late pregnancy My son was unable to move much, but certainly was noticeable due to his large size. My son only moved at night when Linda was able to lay flat, especially during the third trimester. His birth weight was 9lbs 7oz and 21 1/2 inches. 

We started the Judicial Hearing Process on January 5th. The hearings were held on the 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 18th. The problem with this process is that it is held in the Juvenile Courts and rather than using "Beyond a reasonable doubt" they use "Preponderance of Evidence" which refers to balancing the evidence, and whichever side is over the 50% mark wins the case. We clearly should have had more than enough evidence to prove that we had not abused our son. Firstly, it was made clear that the hospital had lost blood tests, including a very important vitamin D, phosphorus, ionized calcium, and the PTH tests, all vital for diagnosing Rickets. They also noted elevated liver enzymes related to bone breaks which were elevated even higher after our son was in foster care, after declining to a normal level at the hospital. We had Dr. David Ayoub testify that he could see from the radiological evidence that My son had neonatal rickets. Dr. Ayoub even had images taken directly from My son's X-rays and CT scans to show these signs. The state provided numerous medical witnesses, and each of these witnesses, except Dr. Valvano (A Child abuse Expert who has been certified by American Board of Pediatrics, Child Abuse Pediatrics since 2009), had admitted that if My son had a medical condition of bone fragility that it could explain his fractures. It was also noted that My son had no bleeding on the brain, no subdural bleeding, no retinal hemorrhaging, no bruising, no swelling, no internal organ damage, no brain damage, no cuts or lesions, and no tissue damage. The only thing noted were the unexplained bone fractures. It was even noted in court that there was very likely a new rib fracture after our son was placed in foster care. In fact, there was even a physician's assistant who noted that if My son did have bone fragility he could have accidentally broken My son's ribs during a routine well baby check. Dr. Shaver, The ER doctor who saw My son when we brought him to the hospital still can't give a clear answer about whether or not he broke My son's femur, and when asked on the stand said "I don't believe I did." rather than a simple yes or no. The pediatrician who is currently seeing our son was even confused why they were calling this abuse when there clearly were other things that needed to be looked at first, and recommended that My son see and endocrinologist. There were two doctors who testified that the fact that all of the normal signs of abuse were missing should have dramatically lowered the likelihood of abuse on the differential diagnosis. But the State recalled two of their medical witnesses to discredit Dr. Ayoub's work simply because his current study hadn't been published in a peer reviewed journal yet. So the Judge erred on the side of caution and adjudicated my wife and I of abusing our son. We also have a Daughter who lives at home with us who is in perfect health. Both our children have never missed a doctor's appointment, and we have numerous friends that see our kids regularly who are mandatory reporters. We didn't abuse our son, and they shouldn't be able to take our son like this without reasonable cause. The next step that my attorney has said is to try and get My son home at the disposition hearing and try and find doctors to see our son in person to prove we weren't lying from the start. We are looking for people who are willing to help us in this manner with advice and support. This is a Nightmare for us.

We Need our story passed on. So please repost and spread the word about this huge injustice to all your friends and family. We cannot let this error go unnoticed. Even the CASA worker is against us because their theory is that if you cannot explain what happened then it must be abuse. Cases like this are happening all over the country, even in Canada and Europe. There is a movement starting to fight for a change. Please help fight for those families torn apart by false allegations. Spread the word, and research disease such as rickets, neonatal rickets, and osteopenia. Thank You.

Even in their own paperwork they refer to us as good parents with great parenting skills. They took away our son's first Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, His sister's birthday, and now his own birthday. They are kidnappers, and they only destroy happy families. Every day our daughter asks if we get to see him, and every day she cries when she doesn't, or when we have to leave at our visits. 

23 comments:

  1. I worked in Child Welfare. Social workers out of control again. You have my prayers.

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  2. This is quite horrendous. This is proof that our government has truly become corrupt. It is wrong that our legal system is able to kidnap our children and something needs to be done. Word needs to get out, and fast.

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  3. This is the type of story that should get all kinds of media attention.

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  4. The system is severely broken. We have a story as well I don't have time now but will post when I do. We have every intention of suing the state & county for wrongful removal. CPS workers lie, violate policy and wreck good families. It is all about job validation & money. I'm so glad you were able to get a lawyer immediately, seems like most people can't and CPS walks all over them. The world needs to hear about this. Best of luck.

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  5. Give your casa another chance! their only intrest is for the child, & your best advocate in court. They work very hard for little or no thanks.If you give them all the time they need to talk to everybody involved, you will benifit greatly. I was awarded costudy of my son when he was 5 with the help of a very good CASA volenteer. anyway my prayers are with you.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. Although I understand that a CASA volunteer can at times be helpful, in this case that isn't so. This person has felt that it is appropriate to try and tear apart a family when there hasn't been anything to warrant such feelings. We've tried and tried to explain that our son wasn't abused, and that he was in fact diagnosed with a bone disease. But she didn't want to hear it. This isn't an open-minded person fighting to help our son, but rather a person who's mind was made up from the start that this could only be one thing and that somehow my wife and are are "evil" people.

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    2. I agree with Daniel. I am very familiar with this case. The CASA worker was not open minded. She showed that in her opening statement. She felt that if the child was happy in its Foster care it should be there. Really.. before you hear the facts in a case! How long was it before the CASA worker showed her self at the home of the child? After the trial! She had all the time in world to talk to anyone involved.

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  6. Thought I'd share an article with you I couldn't find your email address

    http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/235246/publisher_ID/40/

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  7. Oh, my, I've just found your site. Your story is tragic, and I wish it were less common.

    Please accept my condolences and best wishes. There is something about the built-in human urge to protect the children that brings out the worst in bureaucracy. I will pass along your url and post it on my Cases page.

    Thank you for the link to my site about shaken baby syndrome (http://onsbs.com/), which is how I found you. I'm so sorry you were drawn into this arena, but I'm thrilled to see your articulate voice in the debate. We are stronger if we work together, which is especially important because they have a forty-year head start and all the grant money

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  8. Hi Daniel,
    Your story is like looking into a mirror. We took our 6 week old baby due to swollen leg, there they told us he had broken femur and 6 broken ribs. While in foster care he had two more broken ribs. The judges they only need Cps drs diagnosis and have not let us take him to a specialist. I got pregnant again and they took my second child. Now we now he had a metabolic bone disorder, because I was vitamin d deficient, we have criminal and civil charges!! Email me if u can starfire_2180@yahoo.com I want to also bring awareness, God bless you and your fam

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  9. Daniel, please email me at k20n10r@yahoo.com, my son had active healing rickets when his femur fractured during a diaper change, our 2 sons have been out of our care since november and no one has been taking his condition seriously, I am trying to raise awareness here in Illinois but media doesn't seem to want to touch it. Unfortunately they'd rather believe all fractures are from abuse rather than dig deeper. I would love to know how you are dealing with this all. Thank you, Krystallyn Rode

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  10. Daniel,

    Our story began two weeks ago and is painfully similar to yours. I'd be grateful for any contact and help and would pass along the same to you.

    Sarah.Wilder@knology.net

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  11. We are currently in week 9 of the same nightmare regarding our daughter. However CPS in California took our 2 1/2 year old as well even though his full body X-Rays showed no signs of abuse. Now we are fighting to get both of our children back. I am so sorry.

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  12. Such a sad case! I am sorry this is happening! We are going a through CPS case as well. Not nearly the same thing, but a CPS case nonetheless. I have just started a blog, haven't posted our story on there yet, But we do have a website that has SOME of the story on there, www.lostwithoutthem.com . Hoping things work out. and I will pass on your story.

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  13. Did they run a bone density scan?

    "However, long-term loss of magnesium from the bone causes disturbances of bone modeling, remodeling, and turnover, with resultant bone abnormalities. Depending upon the supply of the calcemic agents or phosphate, it can give rise to formation of brittle chalky bones or to osteopenia...
    Fetal and neonatal spontaneous fractures and lesions resembling those of osteogenesis imperfecta and hypophosphatasia develop in pups of rats given high doses of vitamin D and in infants born with intrauterine growth retardation, both conditions that might be related to fetal magnesium deficiency."

    http://www.mgwater.com/Seelig/Magnesium-Deficiency-in-the-Pathogenesis-of-Disease/chapter11.shtml

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  14. I Read this article and thought of you,"A child is brought into the emergency room with a fractured leg. The parents are unable to explain how the leg fractured. X-rays reveal several other fractures in various stages of healing. The parents say they did not know about these fractures, and cannot explain what might have caused them. Hospital personnel call child welfare services to report a suspected case of child abuse. The child is taken away from the parents and placed in foster care.Scenes like this occur in emergency rooms every day. But in this case, the cause
    of the fractures is not child abuse. It is osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI. OI is a
    genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily—often from little or no apparent cause. A person with OI may sustain just a few or as many as several hundred fractures in a lifetime."

    Osteogenesis can be passed down as a genetic defect, it may be so mild that it goes undetected. Maybe you could get the genetic testing done to help prove your case?
    "Most cases of OI are caused by a dominant genetic defect. Most children with OI inherit the disorder from a parent who has OI.."

    AND, "clinical geneticists are familiar with OI diagnosis. They have available to them biochemical (collagen) and molecular (DNA) tests that can help confirm a diagnosis of OI in some situations. A skin biopsy can be analyzed to determine if the quantity
    or quality of type 1 collagen is abnormal. This approach identifies almost 90% of persons known to have OI. A DNA test can be done on a blood sample to try to locate
    the mutations that cause OI. Several hundred mutations have been identified. This test identifies about 90% of people with OI."

    This site also lists the symptoms of OI ranging from mild to severe..

    Furher, "When a child has osteogenesis imperfecta:
    - Fractures may occur during ordinary activities, such as changing a diaper or burping the baby, or when an infant tries to crawl or pull to a stand. There may be no obvious indication that a fracture has occurred, other than the child crying or refusing to put weight on a limb.
    -All types of fractures may occur, including rib fractures and spiral fractures, with little or no apparent trauma.
    -The child may bruise easily, again with little or no apparent cause.
    -There may be no history of OI in the family, as some cases of OI occur due to a spontaneous genetic mutation. In other cases, a parent’s case of mild OI may have gone undiagnosed.
    -X-rays may reveal old fractures in various stages of healing that went undetected.
    -The OI child may not exhibit the hallmark clinical features of OI, such as blue sclera, bone deformity, or brittle teeth.
    -Infants and children with mild or moderate OI may have bones that appear normal on x-rays.

    Fortunately, there are several steps that professionals can take to help determine whether fractures are due to undiagnosed osteogenesis imperfecta.(Also lised on this site)

    It has been estimated that 7% of children who have signs suggesting abuse have an underlying medical condition that explains the injuries (Wardinsky). Besides OI, other conditions that feature fragile bones and bruising
    include Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, glutaric acidaemia type 1, hypophosphatasia, disorders of vitamin D metabolism, disorders of copper metabolism such as Menkes
    syndrome, and premature birth (Marlowe)."

    http://www.oif.org/site/DocServer/_Child_Abuse__Child_Abuse_or_Ostegenesis_Imperfecta.pdf?docID=7189

    More resources, help finding a doctor and info on allegations of child abuse in children with OI can be found here: http://www.oif.org

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  15. I am so sorry your family is being attacked. So many families are going through similar things and its sickening. Why add pain and accusations on top of confusion? Im praying for you guys. Answers will come but only as we get the word out and we all join together to make it heard. My fiance was accused and is spending 15-life after they said he abused and murdered our daughter when she was 11 weeks old. The prosecution ignored all medical or witness testimony that didnt support their theory - No matter how substantial. His defense never did a thing - call witnesses - experts - NOTHING. He felt trapped and took a plea. Our family is devastated!!

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  16. Both my lawyer and myself have contacted a talk show host who isn't afraid to take child abuse misdiagnosis and get to the bottom of the accusation and presence of rickets. I think if we got more families involved, rickets can be in the headlines in the US. I know most families are scared to bring it up especially on a national level because of constantly being told rickets is not relevant but we owe it not only to ourselves but to future families who may be thrust into our positions. If this interest your family and you finally want to branch out from your circle of friends please message me on my page.

    www.facebook.com/RicketsAwareness

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  17. hi. im jamie 21 years old and have just had my first son 4 months agoo. when he was 4 weeks old we found a mark on his right shoulder. nearly 4 weeks later we found the same mark in the same place but smaller. nearly 4 weeks later we found more marks on his leg and took him to the hospital. they kept him in over night. the next day police and social services cam in and told us we where not allowed to see our son at AT ALL while they investigated( the whole time bloods where not takin during this time until nearly 48 hours later) we seeked legal advice and was told to tell the local authorities they should either they should get a court order or i was going to remove my son ( he was with his aunt at this time). local authorities where refused any court orders as the peadiatrician who was dealing with my son in the hospital had found abnormalities in his bloods which show that leon, my son, coould be bruised easily and the peadiatrician was questioned by the judge in court why he hadnt done blood tests straight away, i am now waiting for my son to undergo skingrafting and further medical attention as an outpatient. i now have my son at home but due to the trauma of not seeing him for all that time i am now suffering from pastnatal deppression as i am finding it hard to bond with my baby. i waited a life time for leon and even though i am young he was planned loved and wanted the whole time. we where treated really badly misinformed and treat like crap. my heart goes out to you as i live in the uk even after getting your children back the ongoing damage and aftermath is just as traumatic as the time itself. i really hope ure sons health gets better and my advice to other wrongly accused parent is that only you know what happened and nnever doubt yourselves as parents. if any body would like to ask me any questions or have a lil chat about the same sort of situation i was in then please add me on face book, jamie lee gray, uk, 21 jamieleegray92@gmail.com should be the email adress that appears on my facbook account please no troublemakers as this is a seruious situation. so linda and family enjoy ure children and my thoughts and sympathys are with you :)

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  18. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW. I AM IN AMAZEMENT reading your story. All I need to do is replace your names with my names. We took our son to the ER because he appeared to be in pain. We went to one hospital was transferred and that was when everything changed. My son was 4 weeks when CPS took him and he is now 8 weeks. We are now waiting for the genetic test results to come back to see if he has OI. Just like you we are only allowed to see him 4 times a week for 1 hour visits. This is so devastating. Something has to be done about our system to help innocent families that are being wrongly accused.

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    1. It is becoming so much clearer that this is an epidemic of wrongful accusations. We are back in the witch hunting days. A few people you may want to contact via facebook are https://www.facebook.com/heather.dragotta, https://www.facebook.com/charlene.hyra, and https://www.facebook.com/zabeth.bayne https://www.facebook.com/tonya.maa.5 who have reached out to help many others like myself

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  19. My story is so much like yours its like I'm reading my life story in front me. My prayers are with you!

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