Sons of Bitches

Alas, not all my work is amusing. I see some sick shit from time to time. I can deal with a man who comes in flayed from asshole to Israel, but there's one thing I can't deal with:

Child Abuse.

Oh, how I hate it...and at my home base, it's all I ever saw. All the time...little kids coming in complaining of carious maladies, only to find that they are being abused.

Take note...childrens bones are made up mostly oif cartilage...which forms your ears and nose. It's pliable and very markable...much like the top of a drink you'd get at your local fast-food joint. If you push on it, it makes a mark. And we can find it. Every time.

I've seen kids come in complaining of an asthma attack only to find boot-prints on their shoulderblades. I've seen "falls" diagnosed as the twisting of a child's arm to where the bone splinter and strips (greenstick or spiral fracture). Here's some examples:

I had a small boy come in with an obvious deformity of the right humerus (upper arm bone), claiming he had fallen off a swing. I asked him where he landed when he fell, and he pointed to the mid-humeral area.

If you fall on one arm, you're going to hit the humeral head (shoulder) or the elbow. It's impossible to land mid-humerus.

So, I take the kid in and do one x-ray to confirm what I already knew to be true...a spiral fracture (caused by twisting) of the mid-shaft humerus.

Now, as a medical professional, I can't make a diagnoses...and can't treat a parent differently because of even the most EVIDENT cases of child abuse. This is hard to do.

I took the one pictuse to the radiologist, who then called the Department of Child and Family Services. I went back to find an irate and edgy mother and a small boy scared out of his mind. I played it off in saying that the radiologist was busy, and it would take a few moments to read the films. The Mom grabbed her sun by hus broken arm and said, "let's go." She started dragging him out of the room. I ran after her in a feeble attempt to stop her, only to be met halfway down the hall by the radiologist and some burly-ass security guards. The radioligist asks, "where are you going?" The motherturned and pointed at me and said, "the bitch grabbed my son's arm and broke it."

I saw stars and nearly passed out. It was the mother's word against mine. I was fucked. There was no way out of this one.

Fortunately, the radioloigst said, "well, that may be trueif you were here two weeks ago when the fracture occures." Amazingly, there was some minute bone growth that I had failed to notice in the initial x-ray that cleared my name...thank God.

The mother was charged with child abuse and the son was put into a foster home. I still remember hin craying when they took his Mom away...simply for the fact that he didn't know any better.



I firmly believe there is a special place in hell for people who hurt children. I only wish I could be there to watch them burn.

Moral: If you mess with a kid, we'll mess with you.