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Joined: Apr 2009
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This medical event has kept me out of the loop. I couldn't focus on being creative, I had no clue how long this process was going to take and now, finally, I'm coming out the other side, feeling better, and ready to start getting back to being creative and writing more music. I've been listening to songs on the forum and reading and occasionally commenting during this time. And I've been doing a lot of sleeping and resting as well. Heck I didn't even train my dogs very much and you know when I don't train my dogs...... that means I'm not feeling good.
This whole chapter of my life began at 3am on Feb 3 when I couldn't urinate. That's not good, and it quickly became painful. A short time later, yeah, I put off the inevitable, "yeah this requires a doctor" as long as possible, but I woke my wife and said we needed to go to the hospital. It wasn't fun but the emergency room got things kind of back to normal quickly. Kudos to the nurses there. A visit to the specialist a few days later gave me insight into a few paths forward. One was medication and the other was surgery. A two week follow up and it was quickly evident that surgery was the only viable, long term fix, solution. Then were the weeks of waiting for insurance to be pre-approved and scheduling the surgery. Meanwhile living with "tubes". Yeah..... not fun.
Surgery was on March 26th and went well. The surgeon was pleased and said to come to see him for follow up 2 days later. Surgery was out-patient. I went home a few hrs after. Amazingly, mostly discomfort and tenderness but no pain to speak of. Two days later, they removed the tube and told me to go home and call them if I had any problems. No problems presented. I have another follow up April 3 but I'm recovering well so I think everything is mostly behind me now and going forward it's maintenance.
So at this point I'm recovering well. Doc said No manual labor or strenuous work. No pain and I'm headed back to normal as they said I would. Eight weeks total, I'll not soon forget. It's amazing the things you learn from events like this. This appears to have fixed a number of issues I was having.
Anyway, I'm feeling better than I have in many years and because of the surgery, this will never be a problem for me again.
One more thing..... If you are an older man, and you want more information.....just PM me and we'll talk on the phone. I don't want to give TMI on this forum.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Good for you, Herb. Thanks for sharing also. I think a lot of guys are too reluctant to take the necessary steps and also to open up and discuss things. Talking about issues is great.
You didn't just help yourself, I think that by talking, you've probably also helped a heap of others.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Hang in there buddy, this too shall pass.
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Herb, I pray that you recover completely and quickly.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hang in there buddy, this too shall pass. I see what you did there, intentional or not  /'pass'
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Glad to hear you're doing well and on the mend Herb. I'm sure you'll be enjoying training your dogs again soon.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Good to hear you are on the road to recovery Herb.
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eddie1261
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So Herbapalooza 2025 may happen!!
Rest and recover, my friend.
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Good to have you back, Herb  ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/images/icons/default/thumbs_up.gif) Now write a song about it 
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Open and frank conversation about medical issues that seem to be too private can save lives. Too many people, men especially, seem to not want to discuss this stuff and put off the doctor as long as possible. That is how you end up past the point of no return on some things. Good news Herb!
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
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I'm glad you got it fixed. I hope you continue healing and that this becomes nothing more than a memory.
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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GH.
i wish you the very very best health.
keep rocking.
happiness.
om
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs(90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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Glad you're on the mend.
And indeed, kudos to the nurses and other staff, many of which have their own issues we may never hear about.
Stay strong, keep well, be creative.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Herbster, good deal! So glad you're on the mend. We do need some more GH songs here on the forum. Been a fan since the early days! I sometimes have to smile when i think of how long we have both been on this home recording music journey. Back in the old Cakewalk music creator days with guys like beagle and others. Having things like this to be a place to go when we feel like being creative helps with the other things in life. Sometimes it takes a little nudge to remember the real important stuff like health, life, family, and faith just to name a few. I am glad you took the necessary steps to get help.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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Expert
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Expert
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This medical event has kept me out of the loop.
So at this point I'm recovering well. Doc said No manual labor or strenuous work. This appears to have fixed a number of issues I was having. Anyway, I'm feeling better than I have in many years and because of the surgery, this will never be a problem for me again. Mornin' Herb.... Sorry about the ailment but the above is very good to hear. I'm just a week or so away from 77 and I've had spinal stenosis for over a decade. I'm thankful for every day I have above the dirt. Hope you get back to optimum quickly. Carry on.
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“…I'm feeling better than I have in many years and because of the surgery, this will never be a problem for me again.”
And that says it all. Great that you had such a positive outcome!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Herbster, good deal! So glad you're on the mend. We do need some more GH songs here on the forum. Been a fan since the early days! I sometimes have to smile when i think of how long we have both been on this home recording music journey. Back in the old Cakewalk music creator days with guys like beagle and others. Having things like this to be a place to go when we feel like being creative helps with the other things in life. Sometimes it takes a little nudge to remember the real important stuff like health, life, family, and faith just to name a few. I am glad you took the necessary steps to get help. Those heady good old days when we were all having a good time and learning about this home recording thing. Thanks for the reminder. Yes, I'll be getting back to work here on some new music. Stay tuned.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Yes indeed. I've shared this with a few folks here in this forum on the phone, and the more people I talk to about this the more I'm finding out I'm not alone....either in the surgery and it's results, or in the symptoms that get ignored that preceded and led up to this point that were a daily thing for many years. I'm not going to go into the details and symptoms..... a quick google search of reputable sites will tell you everything you ever need to know. All I can say is this..... if it's describing you on those sites.... seek professional medical attention while it's still a minor inconvenience.
So I'll just put this out there.... I had surgery that is commonly called TURP. Short for Trans Urethal Resection Prostatectomy. Coring out the prostate from the inside out. It's not as bad as it sounds. It's the gold standard surgical treatment and highly successful. It's the go-to for old guys like me whose prostate has become enlarged to the point of causing problems. It's the solution when everything else has failed to provide relief or waiting too long to seek medical help for the problems.
If you are an old guy ....50+ and having problems, my unprofessional advice is to go see your urologist. Don't try to put it off, oh it'll get better..... it won't.... and then one day...or night like me, you'll find yourself in a really bad, painful situation and needing the emergency room. Things get real...... real fast, at 3am when you can't pee and you really, really need to go.
For me, it's mostly behind me now and looking forward to getting things back to normal. I'm still in the recovery stage, and will be for a few more weeks.
Don't ignore your health thinking things are going to get better on their own. Oh yeah and one more thing..... if you fit into this category.... be very very cautious about using over the counter antihistamine cold and flu medications. They can trigger things that you don't want triggered regarding this topic. Again, that info is on the reputable sites as well.
Stay healthy and lets write and record some new music.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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