Month: March 2012

Backstory: I’m getting a dental implant on one of my front teeth, and yesterday I had a bone graft. I don’t want to scare anyone who is considering getting an implant, or is about to begin the process. Plenty of people did not experience what I’m currently going through. I also had a bone graft done on a large area.

My first mistake: I walked home after my bone graft. But I needed to unwind, to shake the whole morning off. By the time I got home I was in agony and blood started pouring out of my mouth. (Not exaggerating, pouring.) The dentist told me to wet tea bags and hold them against that area which meant I had a mouth full of tea bags for ten minutes. But it worked.

By this time my face had swollen to inhuman proportions. I wasn’t supposed to take the pain killers on an empty stomach (three Advil plus one Vicodin) but my mouth was a wreck. How was I supposed to eat? I managed to work in some yogurt in by gently placing it in the side.

THEN, THEN, THEN, Con Ed turned off the gas in my building because apparently the landlord never fixed all the leaks the last time the building filled with gas. Christ. Can you believe this timing?? So I had to go out and grocery shop all swollen, in pain, because the food I bought in preparation for the next few days requires an oven. I held a dish cloth in front of my face and everyone stared at me.

I woke up more swollen than ever, even though I’d iced my face until I fell asleep. Oh. The pain killers have just started kicking in. I’m feeling dizzy. Back to the couch for now.

I took this minutes before I got home. If you can see my reflection, that white thing in my hand is a bag of painkillers.

Once a year I go up to Mt. Sinai Hospital to get checked out as part of a World Trade Center Monitoring and Health program (I was a volunteer at the site, for those who may not know). But the funds were only for seven years so that was my last check up.

I’m fine so far though. I’m waiting for more test results which I’m sure will also be fine, but I’ve grown taller, which is the weirdest, weirdest thing. I already knew, I found out accidentally a couple of months ago. I decided this must be from the swimming, from all the constant stretching, stretching, stretching, and according to what I learned googling, this could be the reason. I’m now a little over 5′ 3″ (I forget how much). I used to be 5′ 2 1/2″. I know, not a lot, but I love being able to say I’m 5′ 3″. I don’t know why.

Here are some pictures I took walking back home. First, looking toward the west side of Manhattan across the Central Park Reservoir.

Looking past the daffodils (in the winter) to the Metropolitan Museum.

An agressive goat at the Central Park petting zoo (the second one from the left, the parent pulled her child away).

Walking down Fifth Avenue, that’s the Empire State Building in the distance (I’m at 59th, the Empire State Building is at 34th).

I spent an afternoon looking at all of Eldad Hagar’s videos. Here is one to get a taste, but you won’t be able to watch just one. He (with his wife and others) rescue abandoned dogs in Los Angeles and they do with so much heart I had to watch every one of the videos. You’ll be sobbing. The poor, terrified dogs, who by end are happily curled up in his lap and on their way to a new home—it gives me hope. Thank you, Eldad Hagar and friends for all you do.

This is his website with links to his Facebook page and other links.

Although the crews can be annoying, I love how tv shows and movies are always being shot all over the place in Manhattan. They put up these signs on the street to tell (warn) you what is being shot and when.

Here’s another.

I’m doing the bone graft on Thursday. This part scares me. They cut open your gums, stuff in cadaver and artificial bone, sew you up, and hope for the best, which is that you grow some bone. I’m expecting the most blood and pain and swelling from this part of the process. But I also suspect that like getting my two teeth extracted, it will be fine.

They asked me to get a ct scan prior to Thursday though, because they’re concerned about the amount of bone I’ve lost over the years and they want to avoid any blood vessel or nerve during surgery. That was a little nerve-wracking to hear.

A sign on 14th Street.

On Monday, March 19th, at 7:30 p.m., Viking is hosting an event to celebrate the launch of the late John Leonard’s book, Reading for my Life. Sue Leonard will be there to talk about John’s life and work with Gloria Steinem, Victor Navasky and Colum McCann.

Where: Barnes & Noble space on E. 86th  and Lexington.  

You can read a review of the book here.

I took this the other night on the roof. I went up there hoping to see some special effects from the recent sun storm. I’ve never seen the aurora borealis and I heard that we might see it in our skies. It was pretty anyway.