Oh, I am so sorry there is all this last minute upheaval right before your trip.

I know how that goes, and it is very stressful and difficult to 'decompress' and begin the transition into 'let's have fun' mode! Even without the sudden sojourn to the ER for your dad's gout, you would have had your hands (and mind!) full and overloaded with school stuff. So between the school preparation and the trip preparation, that is more than enough to overwhelm you, and then you have work on top of it and now your dad's health! I know you explained to me a while back the types of things he (and people with gout in general) is supposed to avoid eating to keep flare-ups at bay, but what on earth has he been eating this time, and how much of it? If he eats something protein-heavy, like, for example, one lone steak in a week, is that enough to flare-up the gout? Or does he have to eat large quantities of stuff that is bad for him in a short period of time to cause the flare-ups?
Well, thank goodness you have Chad on standby, but it won't be the same as having your dad there for your birthday. So I hope your dad can somehow manage to go to DLR without too much discomfort or inconvenience.