One month after our first “gotcha day”, the phone rang and it was our state social worker. She was calling to say that Caleb’s older brother, Tommy, was immediately available to be moved into our home as a foster child. Tommy had been in a therapeutic home because of his health. The foster parent that had him called the state and demanded that they pick him up that day. Apparently, they could not handle him.
We were well on our way in our planning to adopt all three of Caleb’s older brothers. We readily agreed to take Tommy that day.
Tommy arrived at our house at about 6 o’clock that evening. He was dressed in dirty clothes and had a very full diaper. It amazes me that all the boys arrived in dirty clothing, even though their foster homes were getting clothing vouchers from the state. His hair had never been cut and it was braided and partially matted.
I was not as experienced in diaper changing as I am now. When I peeked, I did not know what to do. There must have been a half pint of diarrhea in that diaper. Nancy came upstairs and helped me.
Next, I changed Tommy’s clothes. The first thing I noticed was that he had a big scar down the middle of his chest, indicating to me that he had previously had heart surgery. The state worker claimed to know nothing about his heart condition, even though she had previously put him in a therapeutic foster home. We were given several medicines to give him and an inhaler with a spacer, indicating to us that he also had asthma.
Through much research on our own, we discovered days later that Tommy did have a serious heart condition and that he had already experienced two open heart surgeries in his two and a half year life. When we adopted him and received his medical files, we learned that the state had in fact taken him to be examined at Texas Children’s Hospital two weeks before he came to our home. The state worker was negligent in placing a very fragile child in a home without warning about his condition.
Tommy was prone to rages and we experienced several before the night was over. I have detailed his mental frame of mind when he came to live with us in a previous blog. I am glad to say that Tommy’s heart condition is under control, but sad to report that he will have to have a heart valve replacement in about ten years.
Tommy is now six years old. He is a very active child, considering that he is a heart patient. He is a handsome kid who will be quite a lady’s man some day.
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