When I submitted an abstract last fall to the ARVO annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, I was looking forward to my first exposure to vision research and to meeting future colleagues in ophthalmology. Little did I know that ARVO was in fact more popularly called the “American Resident Vacation Organization” by those who have experienced the festivities before. Unfortunately, my so-called “vacation” began with an 11-hour layover in Atlanta, having missed my connection flight due to inclement weather. I think it was my personal record for being stuck at an airport, and I ultimately relegated to eating both lunch AND dinner at Popeyes (which cured my fried chicken craving, but bodes poorly for my arteries). Luckily, day two brought a mixture of warm sun by the pool, and stimulating lectures and poster sessions. The evening concluded with 2 pounds of fresh, chunky jumbo Florida stone crabs at Catfish Dewey’s followed by some mingling time at a local dive bar. On Wednesday, we took full advantage of the beach – basking in the sun, playing catch with a coconut we found in the water, and watching pelicans dive for the schools of fish swimming in the shallow waters at our feet. Dinner was Caribbean seafood fare at Calypso, with conch chowder, conch fritters, conch salad, sweet barbequed shrimps, broiled stuffed dolphin fillet, and of course, a refreshing slice of homemade key lime pie. I was still feeling stuffed when I awoke to present my research poster yesterday morning. Yet, even as the conference was winding down, our adventure was only beginning. Believe it or not, my return flight was also held back by poor weather, causing me to miss my connection and spend … you got it … another 11 hours in Atlanta – this time overnight. Since the airport Popeyes was already closed, we convinced our shuttle bus driver for a drive-through stop at Church’s before dropping us off at our temp hotel. The adventure left me exhausted by the time we got back this afternoon, when I rolled into work with all my luggage and went straight to the operating room. I was sad – not just because the trip was over or that I’m starting nightfloat week, but because I will not have a break until my next vacation in September.

With the OKAP exam finally out of the way, my life has finally been restored to at least some level of normalcy. With “normal” being a relative term, of course, I was soon back to the daily grind of ER shifts and OR cases. With little time to celebrate or recover. Being on-call for oculoplastics also meant having to round on our inpatient service, which despite its small size, brought back traumatic recollections of internship life. Nevertheless, having spent countless hours learning the vast body of clinical minutia and esoteric pearls, the exam was like a lead weight that was finally lifted off my chest. I was glad to play my part as husband again – cleaning the apartment, helping with laundry, and even made an Ikea run for household items. We also checked out Tim Burton’s re-imaginaton of Alice in Wonderland in 3D, then returned to Ferelden with our party of four to slay the archdemon dragon. Having saved the world once again, we will next embark on Heavy Rain – the highly-anticipated PS3 exclusive that is better described as interactive storytelling than videogaming. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.