"The Voice of the New Due Process Army" ————– Musings on Events in U.S. Immigration Court, Immigration Law, Sports, Music, Politics, and Other Random Topics by Retired United States Immigration Judge (Arlington, Virginia) and former Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals Paul Wickham Schmidt and Dr. Alicia Triche, expert brief writer, practical scholar, emeritus Editor-in-Chief of The Green Card (FBA), and 2022 Federal Bar Association Immigration Section Lawyer of the Year. She is a/k/a “Delta Ondine,” a blues-based alt-rock singer-songwriter, who performs regularly in Memphis, where she hosts her own Blues Brunch series, and will soon be recording her first full, professional album. Stay tuned! 🎶 To see our complete professional bios, just click on the link below.
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Susanna is our 16-year-old granddaughter who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with her family. She is currently “on loan” to us in Maine, pending the arrival of the rest of her family in a few days!
PWS
08-03-23
As some of you “followers” might have noticed, I haven’t posted anything new since Wednesday afternoon.
Unfortunately, Wednesday night I went out to walk Luna with her leash in one hand and a lantern in the other. I went off the bottom step of the deck, hit moist grass, slipped, and went down the embankment, breaking my ankle in the process. With Cathy’s help, I crawled back up to the cabin and got as far as our kitchen floor. There, our neighbors, the Andersons, and Cathy determined it was time for the ambulance (fortunately, overruling my first instinct to “wait until the urgent care center in town opens in the AM”).
Once they found our cabin (Larry Anderson flagged them down with a flashlight), the EMTs did a super job of stabilizing my ankle (which was pretty ugly and pointing in another direction) and carrying me up the steep path by chair to get me on a stretcher. Then, they took me over to Miles Memorial in Damariscotta, about 20 miles away. At that point, I was glad I wasn’t having a heart attack, because I’m not sure I would have made it in time.
At Miles Memorial, the amazing Dr. Zaidi (“Dr. Z”) (of course an immigrant, “making America great” in ways those of us in need can appreciate) the orthopedic surgeon and his wonderful team of talented nurses, emergency room physicians, anesthesiologists, physical therapists, and social workers took great care of fixing me up. They squeezed me into surgery on Thursday AM. A plate, ten screws, a long incision, and a temporary cast later, I was on the road to recovery. Miles was short of rooms, so they put me in the Maternity Ward, which was great.
Now, I’m back at our cabin in BBH on crutches and with a walker. Apparently, the full recovery is a pretty long road. I’ll be on crutches for awhile.
Going back to Dr. Z on Monday to get a permanent cast. He should “clear me for travel” at that time. Of course, my objective is to be in good enough shape for the Packers home opener v. the Seahawks at Lambeau on Sept. 10 for which we have tickets with our son Wick and our grandson Joe.
To Cathy’s annoyance, about the first thing I said to the EMTs is that I had to be able to make the Packers’ home opener on Sept. 10. They were sympathetic, although they were Patriots fans as was everyone at Miles. All good folks, nevertheless!
So, I’m sentenced to some time sitting on the front porch in BBH watching the boats come in, the paddle boarders, kayakers, and sailing resort across Linekin Bay. See above. If you have to be laid up, not a bad place. But, I won’t be back “on the water” in my kayak for a while (sadly).
I’ll have get back to courtside gradually. I just posted an article on the latest BIA precedent that I was working on at the time I “went down.” I have another posting I promised Nolan, but that might have to wait until tomorrow. Fortunately, our son Will, his wife Stephanie, and their dogs are arriving here tomorrow to enjoy Maine and give Cathy a hand while they are at it. (Cathy is still feeling some of the effects of her knee replacement in January, so lugging stuff up and down from the parking lot really isn’t in her skill set right now.)
All the neighbors have been really helpful. Ron, across from us, took care of monitoring our sewage system inspection today so that Cathy could pick me up at Miles!
This incident also reminded me that good health insurance is important for everyone (not the “el cheapo” plans that cover less that some pols are pushing as an alternative to Obamacare.) Even the “young and healthy” who claim they shouldn’t have to carry insurance could do what I did, need immediate high quality medical care, and run up thousands in medical bills literally “overnight.” Thank goodness for the FEHB, Kaiser Permanente, Medicare, and the medical pros at Boothbay Ambulance and Miles Memorial Hospital who helped me out in time of need!
All the best to everyone,
Paul
