Taking quite a trip!

I tripped while I was walking with my beautiful daughter, Simone, yesterday morning–we were on our way to check out a new discount clothing store on upper Broadway–and landed face down on the sidewalk. Blood was gushing from my head but I had no idea where it originated. As I assessed whether I was intact–teeth ok? Check. No broken bones? Check. Nose and eyes ok? Check– Simone ran into a grocery for napkins and a small crowd of women gathered to offer me handkerchiefs, tissues and conflating words. Not a man in the group.

The weapon

 

After a few minutes I was able to get up from the ground and determine that my upper lip, inside and out–was pretty  smashed. FBI agent that I am, I soon realized that my face had landed precisely on top of the chunky ring on the middle finger of my right hand and the ring had cut the lip clear through to the outside. I thanked the lovely group of women as Simone and I got into a cab and headed to to the ER at Mount Sinai hospital. We were closer to Lenox Hill but I would have left there in a body bag so I opted for a real hospital.

After making sure the fall had not caused anything more severe than a mangled lip, a fabulous PA (physician assistant)*  cleaned the wound and meticulously stitched the inner and outer upper lip (I stopped counting after about 12 stitches). It was nice to clutch Simone’s hand for comfort.  After the novocaine wore off, I popped three Tylenol to reduce the discomfort. The lip is swollen,  but I can eat (thank heavens). The PA gave me a prescription for antibiotics.

Barry at work

 

We don’t know what’s going to befall us when we wake. I’m grateful the ring didn’t puncture an eye, I didn’t break my jaw, any teeth, wrists, arms or legs, and I’m not dead.

I tripped a few months ago and escaped with only some bad bruises. I was wearing floppy moccasins then, and today I was wearing boots with thick rubber souls that caught on an uneven edge of sidewalk. I’ve got to walk more carefully and wear different shoes.

I was at a party a few months ago where a man slid on the marble floor and went flying. A FOF woman in the drugstore told me that a fall she took a few years ago caused her to bite through her lip. And Simone said a young co-worker broke her jaw and had 119 stitches after fainting in her apartment a few weeks ago.

I’m grateful I’m still in one piece, more or less.

 

Looking especially lovely today!

Merry Christmas to my FOFriends and their families. Stay safe.

P.S.  PA Barry Johannes asked if I wanted a plastic surgeon to do the suturing.  “You’ll probably get a junior doctor with hardly any training,” he explained, but wanted to give me the choice.  I opted for 40-year-old Barry, who seemed confident about performing the task at hand.

0 Responses to “Taking quite a trip!”

  1. Geri says:

    Hi Judy,

    Thank you Judy. You are so kind.

    Geri

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  2. Judy Mok says:

    I mean you still look GOOD…

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  3. Judy Mok says:

    Hi Geri,

    Glad to see that you’re in one piece after all… Please do take care and take it easy. I’ll pray for your speedy recovery. BTW, you still do pretty good w/ the swollen lips…

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  4. Diana Verner says:

    Hey Geri,
    I also took a nasty fall. I wasn’t as lucky as you were. I actually tore my Meniscus. Had to have surgery, recuperated for 6 weeks and now I am back to teaching dance and being very careful when I’m walking…..lol
    Get well and take care of yourself FOF.

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  5. Karen Drinkard says:

    Geri….so very sorry to read about your tumble! Nice ring, but boy, it wasn’t cushioning anything for you. Hate to say it, but LOLOL’d at the “stiff upper lip” comment below. Figures a sister would say that. 🙂 Be well, my friend.

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  6. Geri says:

    Hi Glenyse,

    So funny. I was talking about Mederma five minutes before I read your comment. Thank you for your kind words. It’s healing well.

    Geri

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  7. Glenyse says:

    Wow Geri!! Sending you get well wishes and speedy recovery. And Mederma will be a great help in fading that split once it has healed over.

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  8. Mary says:

    So sorry for you poor lip:(. I stepped forward in the dark and hit the corner of an out facing corner and had to have 4 stitches, at thanksgiving in rural Kansas. The p.a. Was very good with the stitches. My scar across my left brow gives me character. Those corners are called poison arrows in feng shui. Take care!
    Mary

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  9. Linda McCoy says:

    Geri, I wish you a speedy recovery and a wonderful New Year!

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    • Geri says:

      You, too, Linda.

      Fondly,
      Geri

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  10. Heather Ann Chapple says:

    Gosh…’tis the rubber soles I think…did the same thing about the same time in Egypt on the concrete floor in my hotel room…my camera was the item that suffered not me thank goodness!
    Best wishes for the New Year! Walk safe….hugs h

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    • Geri says:

      Hi Heather, It is the rubber soles. I could feel the tip of my right boot “stalling” on the sidewalk and then over I went.

      Glad your camera was the only thing hurt.

      Love,
      Geri

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  11. sharon Segal says:

    Geri, I know about falling…if you remember . I am taking a balance class here at CVW .It has over 100 people. Lucky you had Simone with you. Hope you feel better. Happy New Year to you and David.

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    • Geri says:

      Thanks Sharon. Great you are taking a balance class.

      oxo

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  12. Toby Wollin says:

    OH GERI. 🙁
    Having stitches in the face is very scary; I remember my sister falling on the ice when I was quite small and my father stitching her up and admitting later that he’d been really upset and probably should handed the job over to someone else.

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    • Geri says:

      Hi Toby,

      I don’t know how your dad did it!

      oxo

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  13. Shelley says:

    To my wonderful sister:

    Nice to see that you “kept a stiff upper lip” during all of this!!
    Take care and mend quickly.
    Love-Me

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    • Geri says:

      HAHAHAHA !

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  14. Kate Line Snider says:

    Aw, Geri, I am so sorry! I did the same thing when I was about three and I still remember how awful it felt. Hope you feel better soon!

    (Great pics, by the way!}

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    • Geri says:

      Hi Kate,

      Thanks for your good wishes. Simone took the pix.

      G,.

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