Very early on Wednesday morning, I leave home for the airport and arrive with the usual lead time to find the security line going across the entire baggage claim area and almost out the door. I nearly miss my flight. After transit through Dallas-Fort Worth, I make it to Reagan National Airport without any problems. The shuttle ride to National Harbor brought me to the Gaylord National, where I check in to the American Orthopaedic Association meeting.
It’s good to see many familiar faces at the Welcome Reception. I meet up with Ben Chen and take the water taxi over to Old Town Alexandria for dinner at Landini Brothers. Then, we tour the monuments at night. Ben refines his photography skills.
I present the Perthes Index paper on Thursday morning at the special emphasis session. This morning, the Supreme Court upholds the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). John Tongue, AAOS President, and Ben Chen happen to run into each other outside the Supreme Court for this landmark ruling. After the meetings, Gary, Chris, and I have dinner at Bond 45. From the outside, it looks like an Italian restaurant, but we find out it’s an Italian New York steakhouse. I have a Caprese salad and grilled vegetables.
Back in the hotel, I get a call from American Airlines with a recorded message. My flight for Saturday afternoon had been canceled, and they rescheduled me for Sunday. I call back and stay on hold for about a half hour, and they finally schedule me for an earlier flight Saturday.
The Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD) meeting takes place Friday morning. I applaud the taskforce for coming up with sets of learning milestones. Then, Ranjan Gupta moderates a very pertinent symposium on surgeon skill, and programs should do with residents who are obviously incapable of doing surgery. In the meantime, Washington, DC, bakes in record-breaking heat of 104°F.
For the start of the Sabbath, I travel to see the Kandus and Brad Thorp of Hope Channel and longtime friends. Travel involves the NH1 bus to the Branch Avenue Metro station, the Green Line to Gallery Place-Chinatown, the Red Line to Union Station, and then the MARC 436 local train to Odenton. Brad meets me at the train station. It’s good to see Brad and Kandus again. Jonathon, having matched to Johns Hopkins for Internal Medicine, now lives at home. Allie is in town as well. At home, I meet Nerida and Daniel McKibben. They recently moved from New Zealand to help out with the health programming for the Hope Channel. We each share what we are thankful for during the past week. Kandus makes a beautiful salad with lettuce, Anaheim peppers, roasted pine nuts, blue berries, and green onions. We also have pizza on thin wheat buns topped with almond mozzarella cheese. Our meal finishes with dark chocolate raspberry dessert. Brad sends me back to National Harbor.
My flight, which had been rescheduled to earlier, leaves at 11:45. I make it to the airport in plenty of time. The layover through Dallas is longer that it was supposed to be, but it’s time to have a lazy lunch, nap, and unwind a little before the upcoming week.
