Leslie was in a bike accident this past Tuesday night.

Thank you to everyone who's called and asked after her health.

Time has blurred, so I think it was Tuesday night. Since friends ask "What happened?": Leslie was on Pitt Street, biking home around 9PM or so. I heard a thud in back of me, sounding like a car accident. Leslie was lying on her right side, unconscious. She was wearing a helmet. Two men on the sidewalk pointed to an empty plastic milk carton they said she hit. She wasn't struck, as far as I can tell, by a car or truck.

Leslie started to bleed from her head, and after five minutes or so regained a bit of counsciousness. Kindu came. Our friend Nicola was walking by and took our bikes home. A firetruck came to 911 calls, and then an ambulance. The ambulance took us to the Bellevue Hospital trauma unit, which is a wonderful place for acute need if you unfortunately have that need. Leslie's parents and all our guys came.

Leslie had a brain bleed (I know there's a medical term), a broken hip and they initially thought but ruled out a broken shoulder.

The next day, after a series of CT scans to make sure the brain had stabilized, the orthopedic team operated on her hip. The fracture was stable, so though the physicians were ready for a hip replacement, they instead stabilized the femur with three screws.

Leslie was kept in the recovery room for 24+ hours because her trachea had swollen to the intubation - after the first day she was grabbing staff in the recovery room and demanding they take out the intubation tube, writing notes and silently screaming. One of her notes was telling Kindu to stop visiting and go to his classes - he finishes college this semester. Another was to tell me to go to North Carolina for Ripton, where he needed a parent--I was already there. Kindu has been a hero throughout. Leslie's partner and our friend, Shelley Kolton, keeps proving she's a magical care giver. Mike & Ria are at their best. All our boys (I know they're young men, but they're still our boys). And friends.

Leslie was eventually released from the recovery room to a regular patient room in Bellevue. The medical care seemed great at Bellevue. The staff was entirely friendly. And as they told me, as typical for a NYC hospital, chronically understaffed. Leslie was left to lie in her own urine for a night and early morning because there weren't enough staff to clean her up and change the bed. The head nurse said staff called in sick and there were no replacements. The patient advocate lady who came by doing her survey said lying in your own pee at Bellevue is common, and apparently more. And as my friend Rosie Mendez, our local City Councilmember told me yesterday, there are more budget cuts on the way.

Leslie is now at NYU Hospital, a couple blocks further up 1st Avenue.

I'm aware there are many others, just down the block, who couldn't move from one hospital to another.

Leslie is dizzy, in pain. It seems she'll be "fine," though bike riding seems to be over.

Recuperation will take time. Family and friends are visiting. I'm sorry I'm not responding to everyone who calls, texts or writes. Feel free to visit. I'll write another update in a couple days.

P.S.: Friends have been asking... I'll give a Carlos update, but in a bit, after life calms.

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