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.