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Bandon Oregon

I first played Bandon Dunes 8 years ago with my college buddies. It was beyond amazing! It was everything one could hope for, just epic! Between the mist, fog, break through sunlight, walks though dunes, pine forest, on the edge of 100’ cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean! It was simply amazing! Since then, I’ve only longed to go bock. Yet, our plans never seemed to gain traction towards  return trip to Bandon. After this 2023 last trip to Jackson Wyoming, I decided to stop waiting on others, and I planned a solo trip to Bandon. Part of being a real fan of golf, I think, involves the enjoyment of golf getting paired with other random golfers. We all share the somewhat of the same love for the game, or we wouldn’t be there. You can talk, but you don’t necessarily have to make conversation. Just talk about the golf, the surroundings, “good shot!” I initially set out for this to be a completely solo trip, just fly out on my own, but my wife ended up having a change of heart and desi
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Recent posts

How was your trip?

  How was your trip? It was fine. It was frustrating.  It was salvaged.  It was turned upside down.  Verdant beauty.  Then there was dread.  Oppression.  Tears and tears and tears.  And love.  And faith.  And there was God and Jesus my savior.  I’m looking into his miracle. Her name is Vanessa.  I am powerless.  I surrender.  Release.  Praise and proclaim.  Enter thy peace. 
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Getting Older and Stuck in My Ways

When I was in medical school, rotations were usually 4-8 weeks long. Each time we started a new one, we were meeting new residents and attending physicians, trying to understand their expectations, personalities, new environment, sometimes new EMR, new clinics or hospitals. Everything was new all the time. Figuring things out was a constant.  Once I graduated residency, new was infrequent. Same EMR, same consultants, same hospital system, and things became familiar. I adapted to the environment more fully. It feels comfortable like home. But... nothing lasts forever. Change has come. Our group is employed by the owner of the hospital, AMG. Our boss is a hospitalist who works in our system. Our group was created to be lifestyle friendly. Out by 4 pm or so. Pager stops going off at 5pm. But AMG has now contracted with Sound Physicians to take over our group. What will this mean?! Change. Forced change seems to inspire fear. Many are fearful. Forced change seems to inspire non-rational th
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Remember Healing?

It's now been greater than two years since my wife was afflicted by bad health. It's not been one event, it's been an ongoing unfolding of calamity. First the ulcerative colitis (UC) flare, started new immune suppressant. When it failed, she opted to go for the surgery which is a cure for about 99% of UC sufferers. But she was in the 1% who still had some residual disease. "Cuffitis" is  what it's called. The  last few centimeters of the colon have to be spared to create the surgical connection after the colon is removed, and in a few people this area still has some inflammation. "But its usually easily controlled with occasional medications." Not so with Vanessa. Very resistant. Required further surgery to strip away the layer of mucosa. Then this caused scarring that created a severe narrowing. Which required another surgery. Then required manual dilations which were excruciating. There was a degree of pain that persisted beyond the typical post-op
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God is the surgeon.

I remember back to when my wife had her colectomy (Summer 2019).   I was with her prior to the operation. I was holding her hand in the pre-operative room. She was scared. Rightfully so. A colectomy is irreversible. How will things go? What will life be like? Will she be able to have a BM on a toilet like normal again? Will there be complications? What will the pain be like? Will She be able to manage this ostomy... for however long? Let me mention to you now, I worship my wife's comfort and happiness. I struggle to feel even moderately okay unless she is content and comfortable. Yet standing at the threshold of all those scary "What ifs" she is not comfortable or happy. She is in pain, she has been in pain for 4 months. All her hopes for living a normal life and her fear of living a irreversibly abnormal life are tied up in this day. I kissed her... repeatedly. I told her I love her... repeatedly. Like we were going to be apart for years. Like we may never see one anothe
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From a surgical waiting room.

  Journal (Written from the surgical waiting room.) Vanessa’s ulcerative colitis flare started in February 2019. Since then, life hasn’t been the same. Her flare didn’t resolve with medications and ultimately needed a colectomy. Normally a two part surgery with temporary ostomy, then you heal and go on with life. Inconvenienced with frequent bowel movements, but that’s usually the extent of it.  Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t so lucky. Her body just hasn't cooperated. She developed a resistant cuffitis (residual inflammation in the very end of the rectum from ulcerative colitis. Happens in a very small number of ulcerative colitis patients after colectomy). After medical failure, this ultimately needed more surgery. She had a surgical mucosectomy for the cuffitis. After this surgery, there is a risk of severe narrowing of the anus from scar tissue, “anal stenosis”. Of course, her body didn’t cooperate. She wound up developing this anal stenosis. This required yet  more surgery. Then
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Write to Remember

One of the reasons I've written on this blog for the last 10+ years is so that I can look back and remember. Remember where I was, who I was, and how God delivered me. I'm going through each post from the beginning. Reading, reflecting, and now UPDATING! You can do this too if you want. Once I'm complete, I will continue my blog on new life adventures and trials on the new blog location. Check it all out here: MEDIUM - DAVID GILBERT https://medium.com/@davidgilbert_97251 Now for a random trip photo. (Maui 2018)
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