Despite being still drugged up on cough syrup and cough drops, I was determined to keep our plan to see Pentatonix live in concert for their one-night-only show in Sacramento. Since my parents were still in town, we were able to enjoy a dinner date at Grange before heading to the brand new Golden 1 Center for the concert. This was our first live-band concert in many years, so we decided to splurge for third-row seats, just behind the mosh pit. The show opened with a lackluster set by Abi, a Nashville-based country/pop band with a Letters to Cleo vibe; followed by a more impressive American folk pop duo called Us the Duo, featuring husband-and-wife Michael and Carissa Alvarado who showcased a variety of hits including one they premiered as their wedding vows. Of course, the headliners stole the show, as the team of a capella all-stars showed off popular covers like their Michael Jackson and Daft Punk medleys, and originals like Can’t Sleep Love. Our breaths were also taken away by Mitch’s vocal range and Kevin’s beat-boxing to Bach’s Cello Suite. The late event made it hard for me to wake up Friday morning for more meetings about the new Eye Center building. I went home for a quick lunch with the family at our new local Chinese place Hong Kong Cafe, then was off again to the Allergan campus in Irvine for the “FIRST” immersion program. There, I got to catch up with other “innovative retina stars of tomorrow”, in addition to learning much about the expansive research facilities at Allergan. My cough was much better by the time I got back, and we had both sets of grandparents over to enjoy some hot pot with Westley. After five nearly consecutive trips over the past month, I was relieved to be finally home again to spend time with the family.

With my wife just discharged from the hospital and myself suffering from both laryngitis and bronchitis, my arrival in Chicago for this year’s AAO annual meeting began rather inauspiciously. Since the Academy is primarily a social gathering, my inability to carry a conversation without hacking up a lung severely limited what socializing I was able to do. It also didn’t help that I was featured on the cover of the meeting program this year, which led to a lot of congratulatory text messages and even more social calls than usual. On Friday, after checking into my hotel, I joined our residents and fellows at the Cornea Society party, which as in prior years has become bigger, louder, and darker – I could barely see or hear anyone there. Next morning, I was glad my booth talk at Zeiss was sparsely attended, and I enjoyed a private preview of upcoming features for their intraoperative OCT system. After grabbing lunch with a collaborator from UCSF, I attended a few final sessions from Subspecialty Day, which again taught me nothing new and reinforced my decision not to register for this event again. I rested at the hotel until the evening, then stopped by the Harvard alumni reception before dinner with the Allergan team including their CEO. My voice had not recovered much by Sunday, which made for a rough morning teaching two Skills Transfer courses. I was consoled, however, by a participant who came up after my talk to commend my teaching style and confirm that I was the author of the 300-slide board review powerpoint which had apparently gone viral and passed between trainees across the country. For lunch, I had some chicken pho with a fellow clinician-scientist at UW to soothe my throat, then returned to the conference to see my resident’s poster win best-in-category. By the time I returned to ORD for my flight out, I felt like I had spent more time conversing with Uber drivers than with actual friends at the meeting. Despite lamenting my bad luck for getting sick, I was nevertheless glad that I have no clinical or call duties when I get back next week.

Nothing could have prepared America for this election season, as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns continue to bring new drama and new surprises into the final weeks before the election. It had only been days after NY Times released Trump’s tax returns and Wikileaks unveiled hacked emails from Clinton’s private server, when another scandal surfaced – this time a video of Donald bragging about groping women, which all culminated in a very intense and uneasy debate between the candidates last week. As more and more Republicans distance themselves from Trump, I find it ironic that their candidate has done more to fracture the party than any Democrat opponent had in this country’s history. And while the political scene continues to spiral into chaos, my own household’s health was also falling apart. On Tuesday, I left work early with a sore throat and fever of 101, only to find my wife acutely hunched over with 10/10 right lower quadrant pain. After idiotically trying to tough it out for an hour, we finally drove to our local ER, where she was promptly diagnosed with a ruptured appendicitis and taken to surgery. Luckily, my parents had been visiting and were just getting used to caring for the baby. So while Melody was recovering in the hospital and I was juggling my remaining clinical duties, they were able to step in and watch Westley. It will be rough flying out tomorrow, especially since she just got discharged from the hospital today. Fortunately, it’ll be a short itinerary, and I’m looking forward to coming home soon for some much needed rest.