Author Archives: tbavendam

Grandma Iona and Grandpa Bill just after I was born in 1955 I asked Carol to talk about her father today. “He was a wonderful man. A good Christian. He planned ahead so he always had things he needed. He was also generous. A story she recalls is that Grandpa had was running out ofContinue reading “Grandpa Bill”

The answer is yes if you are on a cruise with mostly retirees and have me at your table. I do not every force it into a conversation but when there is a natural transition, I take it. People are very interested and often have questions that I am able to answer. it is fun.Continue reading “Is bladder health and menopause table talk?”

I have often thought about writing a book, a combination of a memoir and opinion about health care in general with emphasis on women. It would not be a regurgitation of the ever-changing evidence but rather putting anatomy, physiology and evidence in context. I truly have a love/hate relationship with evidence based practice of medicineContinue reading “Perhaps I am starting to write a book….”

A quiet sea day. Lovely temperature. A bit windy and of course a bit too much sun for me. Over the past few days I have been had 2 different health situations in members of extended family that I have been providing support from afar. Even as I pose the question, is good healthcare evenContinue reading “Is good healthcare even possible?”

We awoke anchored off the shore of Maui – a longer distance than Kona. We boarded the lifeboats to go to shore and then immediately on to the large boat for whale watching. I wasn’t sure what to expect but we did see a lot of whales – some up close; even a mother andContinue reading “Whales, postcards and laundry”

We had to be up and off the ship by 715 for the Pearl Harbor tour which was early. We did not get back until 1 PM and I was a bit “hangry” by this tie. We spent 3 hours a Pearl Harbor which was. a bit long for most of us and then hadContinue reading “A lovely day in Honolulu and beyond”

We were able to watch the NCAA Women’s Championship game from a home with a stunning view of Honolulu and the ocean. The Iowa Hawkeyes played a good game but the LSU Tigers were “on fire”. After the game we got some Korean takeout with the intent of going up to the Punchbowl park forContinue reading “The day did not go as we expected, but lovely none the less”

We have docked in Honolulu. My former colleague from NIDDK, Terry, who lives in Honolulu is going to pick us up and take us to her house so we can watch the Iowa play in the NCAA Women’s Basketball finals. I was able to reschedule the Pearl Harbor Tour for tomorrow instead. After the gameContinue reading “NCAA Women’s Basketball Finals”

The ship anchored outside of Kona and we took a life boat into a pier. We started with our Atlantis submarine tour and went down to a depth of 100 feet – as far down as the ocean goes in this location. That is below the coral reefs and it looked a bit like snowContinue reading “Our first outing – Kona”

The photographer worked really hard to get a real smile out of Carol. This was the best.