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.

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.

Hang in there buddy, this too shall pass.

Herb, I pray that you recover completely and quickly.

I see what you did there, intentional or not

/'pass'

Glad to hear you're doing well and on the mend Herb. I'm sure you'll be enjoying training your dogs again soon.

Good to hear you are on the road to recovery Herb.

So Herbapalooza 2025 may happen!!

Rest and recover, my friend.

Good to have you back, Herb
Now write a song about it

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!

I'm glad you got it fixed. I hope you continue healing and that this becomes nothing more than a memory.

GH.

i wish you the very very best health.
keep rocking.

happiness.

om

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.

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.

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.

“…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

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.

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.