It all started on a Sunday afternoon in June. It was a beautiful day, Dakota was an active 2 year old and I had taken him to the park to fly kites. When we returned home a few hours later Drew was just finishing his bottle with Rob. I took Drew to burp him and noticed that his body was stiffening and he appeared to stop breathing. We immediately called 911 and in the meantime Drew's eyes started to roll back and it was apparent he wasn't breathing. The ambulance took Drew to Pontiac hospital where the Dr. informed us that Drew had apparently spit up and choked and there was no real concern and sent us home.
The ER Dr.'s diagnosis didn't seem to sit well with me. I'm not a medical professional but I know what I saw and it seemed more like a seizure to me. I called his Pediatrician Monday morning and they agreed to see him the next day. At our appointment on Tuesday his Pediatrician noted that his head had grown 1 1/2 inches in less than 6 weeks. At this point he was vomiting and becoming lethargic so she said we could either watch and wait or we could go to St. Francis for an MRI. I chose the MRI and we left for Peoria.
His Pediatrician decided to admit him to aid in the speed of the testing that needed to be done. The MRI showed 3 subdural hematomas (2 chronic and 1 acute). They decided to do a spinal tap to check for Meningiti and they ordered a full body scan, which later revealed 2 fractures (1 in his wrist and 1 in a rear rib). Drew progressively was unable to keep any food down and was losing muscle control. His brain was swelling to the point that they were ready to place a shunt.
By this time it was Friday afternoon and nobody had given any indication as to what the problem might be, this was all to change very quickly. Dr. Edwards was on call that afternoon, I knew him as he had previously been Dakota's pediatrician before I moved to Fairbury. I remember him walking in to the room and asking me to put Drew in his bed and have a seat so he could explain the test results to me. He pulled up a chair directly across from me and said that what he was about to say was difficult. He proceeded to tell me that they suspected someone had abused Drew, that test results at this point indicated that Drew had been shaken to the point that his head most likely bounced from his back to his chest repeatedly. He explained that they had found several brain bleeds, several broken bones and that both of these were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. At that point I was crying so hard it was difficult to talk and all I could ask was is he going to live. He told me that they would be doing a repeat MRI and that an Ophthalmologist would be in to check his retinas. He said we would take it one day at a time.
Dr. Edwards informed me that in light of the suspicion of child abuse he would allow me to stay as long as I agreed to move to a room across from the nurses station and leave the door and curtains open at all times. The following morning Rob came over and after we fed and bathed Drew we went to the cafeteria to grab breakfast while Drew napped. Upon returning to our room we were met by Dr. Lance Cordoni and a team of medical students. Dr. Cordoni informed us that he was certain that Drew was abused and though he couldn't prove it was us couldn't take a chance we hurt Drew further. He gave us 5 minutes to gather our stuff and leave. In a matter of 24 hours my whole world changed. I hadn't left Drew except to go eat and to shower, I didn't know what to do.
The next year was a blur. My parents were amazing and stepped up to be foster parents so that Drew didn't have to stay with strangers. The hardest part of this was it prevented me from spending time with my parents while I was going through all the madness of the courts because in the beginning I wasn't allowed unsupervised visits with Drew. By October I had satisfied the courts and was allowed unlimited visitation so at that point I moved in with my parents to be with the boys 24/7.
To this day I don't know exactly what happened to Drew. The court system had their theory but lost some key evidence and failed to prove their case so they basically dropped it. On June 5th, just a little over a year after it started I was granted full custody of Drew. Ironically that happened to be my birthday.
The Dr.'s have continued to remind us that with Traumatic Brain Injuries you just take it one day at a time. 12 years ago they weren't sure that Drew would ever gain back the muscle control he had lost, if he would ever eat without a tube, if he would walk or talk. By the grace of God he has done all those things and more. I think sometimes I get so caught up in all the daily tasks that life has for us that sometimes I forget to thank and praise God for how far He has brought us. God is good through all things.
Psalm 52: 8-9
But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.
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