There is a fish in my eye.

When I last left you I was headed off to the opening ceremony of the European Congress of Pathology. While at the opening ceremony I started to notice some increasing floaters in my left eye and a haziness to my vision. I had noticed some floaters in my eye in Rome but had ignored them. I couldn't ignore the haziness. I called my Blue Cross insurance in Canada and they told me to attend a local hospital which I did the next morning. After 4.5 hours, I was seen by an ER physician who sent me off to an ophthalmic hospital to see an ophthalmologist who worked in their ER. I got in to see the ophthalmologist quickly and I was dx with a posterior vitreous detachment with hemorrhage but no retinal tear. This was good as a retinal tear can cause blindness while the vitreous detachment is just annoying but could potentially lead to a tear. These detachments occur with age and probably would have occurred had I stayed in Edmonton. The ophthalmologist recommended against strenuous hiking and exercise and suggested followup if things worsened.

I missed the conference on Sunday but attended Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Some of the talks were good however there were too many talks directed to AI and computational pathology. AI and computational pathology will be the way of the future-10-20 years out but the talks don't really translate into information or knowledge that I can apply when I get back to Edmonton. I talked to lots of European pathologists which was interesting and even met Matt, a English pathologist who had spent a year studying with us in Edmonton about a year ago.

Today I headed out on the train to Cinque de Terre on the northwest coast of Italy. Think picturesque fishing villages set in river valleys cascading down the steep slopes to the sea. I was going to do some hiking but now with the PVD will confine myself to training between the villages and wandering around the villages. I will make the most of it. I have spent the afternoon walking around Vernazza where I am staying and it is very beautiful but also very touristy.Read more