[Magdalen] A bad fall

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Our group had a rehearsal the other day, and Laura attended as usual.  She
has had some dental work done, and will need some more done, she says.  Her
speech is affected, probably due to all the trauma and swelling.  Some
serious marks to her face, poor lady, but in general, a lot less swelling
than I expected.
She played, but declined to try to play the krummhorn, which requires a lot
of breath pressure -- but I was so glad to have her back with us. I've have
been happy if all she could do was percussion.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 1:23 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have often said that whenever I am feeling bad about something happening
> to me, I always see someone far worse off.  It's not hard to feel a bit
> chastened to have been feeling bad about a sprained ankle when you see what
> some other folks have to put up with on a daily basis.
>
> We were arriving for our group's rehearsal today, and another member of
> our group was just behind us.  Suddenly we were aware that she had fallen.
> The sidewalk has a gigantic frost heave and the concrete slab is up about
> two inches on one side.  They put an orange cone.
>
> I am sure Laura was well aware of it, and tried to avoid it, but she
> apparently tripped on the jutting concrete edge and went down face first.
>
> As we approached, we all assumed she probably had some fractures, as she
> is a lady of a certain age. Keeping my calm voice, I asked her to help us
> before we thought of moving her, was she in pain, did she think she might
> have hurt something or sprained something. She replied, still not moving
> (another red flag), that she didn't think she had hurt herself in her
> limbs.  She had struck face first. She thought she had broken her nose.
>
> At first she was able to respond clearly, but as the minutes went by, she
> sounded more like her mouth was being obstructed. We had called 911
> immediately and a security guard for the residence came and we got blankets
> to cover her until the ambulance came.
>
> A member of our group who is also an MD and a friend of Laura's went with
> her to the hospital.
>
> Later on we learned that she had not broken her nose, but had fractured
> the bone of the "upper jaw" if you will, under the nose.  She will probably
> have to have dental work to repair all of that.  This is such a shame.  It
> goes without saying she won't be able to play in the group for a while, and
> I have no clue how long her recovery will take.
>
> She's a cancer survivor with extant severe back problems, has diabetes,
> and also has a pacemaker. She lost a son (a Master Sgt nearing retirement
> in the Green Berets) in Afghanistan.  This is one of those good people to
> whom things happen.
>
> Probably her big concern will be who will take her friend to his doctor's
> appointments now that she cannot.
>
> Those who wish to may pray for grace and healing, and wisdom for her and
> all of us in our little group, of which she is the associate director.
>
>
>
>
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>