How many with health issues helped by Segway?

[jillmac]

I'm just curious as to how many of us here had health issues that have been helped by being able to use the Segway to get around. I know of several of course, but was interested just how many and the benefits you have found. Also, if you feel that the Segway was a good investment for you.

Me...... I have MS. Don't need a wheelchair (have used one when needed though) and am enjoying being able to join in with everyday things again and to enjoy the great outdoors :)

The Segway was most definitely a good investment for me.

Jill

Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[X-man]

Myself, I have COPD (with a 'trick' hip) and it has helped me extend my range without tiring as much. I have been places on my Segway that I never tried on my bike or by walking. Great investment for me with only the range as a complaint but only because I usually am not ready to go home due tothe fact that I'm having so darn much fun on the thing.
Friends and family are now complaining that I'm never home. I am, but usually just to charge up and then I'm off again. It's become routine to go out in the morning, charge during the heat of the day and out again in the evening. Another reason for those times is the ambient light because my camera is always with me.

X is my undergrad school.

[segwayowner]

while it hasnt helped me perosnally, it has been helping one of my griends with MS. she has poor balance, but is great on the segway.

DES: Segway owner

[defenbaugh]

quote:Originally posted by jillmac

I'm just curious as to how many of us here had health issues that have been helped by being able to use the Segway to get around.


I have offered mine to a paraplegic and a man with a prosthesis. Both are reluctant. I am not forcing but reassuring them they would be surprised at the outcome. Will update if something develops. Have others had experience that might help me?

Follow your bliss,
Ron

http://www.defenbaugh.org/segway_ht.htm

[lipinsky]

quote:Originally posted by segwayowner

while it hasnt helped me perosnally, it has been helping one of my griends with MS. she has poor balance, but is great on the segway.

DES: Segway owner


How many Girl Friends do you have?

[hodgepoj]

My HT has really helped me get around town. I have osteoarthritis in my left hip (the ball and socket joint is bone-to-bone, no cartiledge to soften the joint). I normally walk with a cane and ride the electric scooter baskets at Home Depot, Lowes, and WalMart. But I ride up and down the aisles on my HT when I've brought it along.

It has also permitted me to leave the car at home for trips to Walgreens or the neighborhood supermarket, and to resume my regular sojourns on the bicycle/hiking trail along White Rock Creek in Dallas. A truly delightful outing.

Power to the People.

hodgepoj

[herpos]

I have posted before on my condition of Muscular Dystrophy that has been greatly helped by the HT. I can lecture for 90 mins while on the HT without tiring as contrasted with 10 mins before HT. I can of course glide many places that I could never manage walking even with a cane or crutches.

Since the HT is too big, heavy, and bulky for me to handle, I even made lemonade out of the lemon and created the SegTray as a self contained hitch mounted carrier to transport the HT all over with easy loading and unloading (see another forum for info) which has given me even greater freedom.

[SegwayBill]

I have also posted before, I have chronic fatigue (cfids) and would be stuck at home if it were not for my Segway. The battery has taught me how to manage my personal energy. When I was at my worst it sure gave me something to look forward to.

Bill

[jillmac]

I know a lot of us have posted before on health issues and our use of Segway - I just thought it would be interesting to have one thread will everyone 'in the same boat' posting with their experiences.

I do appreciate everyone sharing their info. I think this could prove to be a useful thread as a reference point for action groups.

In addition to my own personal use I have demo'd to several people who have mobility issues or have corresponded with them and two that I know of have gone on to purchase a Segway. One gentleman with MS and the other with severe nerve damage in his spine (resulting in a very MS'like gait).

It's interesting to see what ailments can be helped by conserving energy, or relieving balance problems.

Ralph Chaney (RWC) of this forum referred to many of the people who could be helped as "the invisible disabled." We met a while back to work on his video about the Segway. I didn't really think about his comment until some time later and then realized how profound it was.

There are literally thousands of people who are disabled, but don't fall into the 'obvious' patterns of disability. I for one look pretty good (healwise) but have distinct problems with stamina, fatigue, balance etc. but I don't 'look disabled.'

There are those with COPD (as with one poster here), CFS, asthma and much, much more. Lot's do not qualify for the blue parking placard.

I'm just curious to see how many people post on this thread and how many disabilities the Segway is helping along the way.

Jill

Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[toybuilder]

quote:Originally posted by jillmac

Ralph Chaney (RWC) of this forum referred to many of the people who could be helped as "the invisible disabled." We met a while back to work on his video about the Segway. I didn't really think about his comment until some time later and then realized how profound it was.

There are literally thousands of people who are disabled, but don't fall into the 'obvious' patterns of disability. I for one look pretty good (healwise) but have distinct problems with stamina, fatigue, balance etc. but I don't 'look disabled.'

I think "invisible disabled" applies a little to me -- I've always had respiratory problems since I was a kid and strenuous exercise has always been difficult (at least when I'm in Los Angeles or other more polluted areas). I'm mostly functional, and I generally don't look at myself as being disabled, but I do know that the Segway is more viable for me than a bicycle.

http://www.pasadenasegway.org/
A bicycle in 1897 cost $25 ($2,200 today adjusted for inflation).
A Ford Model-T cost $850 in 1908 ($75,000 today adjusted for inflation).
(Can anyone point me to historical prices of horses?)

[mzokc]

My Segway would drift to the right during the first month. It was caused by putting more weight on the right foot. Now that I am more balanced, there is no more drift and my balance in all activities is better.

Mark

[wheels]

My take on "Invisable Disabled" is a positive thought.
This has come from challenged people that I have given demos. They have made this whole thing so rewarding.

Unlike when in a wheelchair, walker, or even a cane,and would stand out.... a challenged person appears to be like everyone else when on a HT.




"Life's a wheelie when you're on a Segway"

[Linc2000]

Hi Jill! My legs are about 62 years old. I could walk forever in my teens and twenties. In the last 5 or ten years I never believed I needed any help going short distances. My knees and legs hurt sometimes and I didn't want to go roaming much any more. But I was fine. Now - I hate it when I have to leave home without my Segway. I have my 20 year old legs back again. Wheee! I'm giddy again!!! Lincoln [8D]

<center> http://www.wwwebhosting.com/tm3wwwlogo.gif</center>

[trevor]

My wife has severe Scoliosis which limits her ability to walk more than a few blocks without experiencing fatigue and pain. This was the reason for our purchasing the Segway and so far it has been a big success. I am currently researching getting a new car with a cargo area and an electric hoist so that Emily can use the Segway wherever she needs to go without my help loading & unloading the Segway.

[Scotty]

I have a prostetic left leg above the knee. I think the Segway could impove my mobility alot but I want to try one out first before I buy. The only thing I question; my left leg is stiff unless I release the knee and bend it. If the left wheel went up on something and I did not notice it was coming, my leg would be straight and it could throw me to the right and maybe off the Segway. If I knew the wheel would be going up over a bump I could release the knee and bend it and that would solve the problem. I would have to try something like this to see if it would be a problem. When you have a physical limitation you consider all things, what ever you do.

[pam]

Scotty, I would always suggest a demo ride. The other thing I would suggest is that if you get an HT, that you stay very attuned to the area that you're gliding over. Although the glide is very intuitive, you still are more of an active participant in it than you are, even, in a car.
Check the search feature and see if there's anyone near you in Ohio. Maybe you could email them and work out a demo ride. Or... go to the Segway page http://www.segway.com/connect/locator/
and look up the name of the dealer in OH. I don't know if they're anywhere near you, but you're one of the few states with a dealer.
Good luck!
Pam

[SegwayBill]

Scotty
If and when you do get to glide don't go beyond the yellow key. The slower speeds will be less jarring and will help anticipate bumps. The higher turning speeds need a little bending of the knees.
If you get Segway, wear a helmet, if you get tossed you won't have to add a head injury to your health issues.

Bill

[billc]

Hi ...greet thread and apologies to JillMac for starting another similiar one.

The reason for Segway benefits mostly seems to be
1) added mileage without fatigue!

This is great..(also I guess obvious)
I'm fascinated by comments about balance. "herpos" can stand for 90 mins on a HT but could previosly only sytand for 10????

If this balance capability for people is improved this is a HUGE +ve issue.

Great tosee and hear the comments and keep themcoming.

As stated we are trying to set to set up a trial center so that people with any mobility issue could come and try the Segway with some professional assitance, safety harness, whatever was required.. (all as a not for profit try before you buy!)
http://www.monash.edu.au/rehabtech/pub/tlink/jun03.pdf

Keep the comments coming and I'll tyry and post back feedback!

(Wish I could link topic
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4154

also
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=871
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4122
(Gliding with Parkinsons)
http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3306
(getting Segway onto planes for people with mobility issues
..to this one)



Bill Contoyannis
Manager / Rehabilitation Engineer, REHAB Tech
Centre for Biomedical Engineering - Monash University

[jillmac]

Bill - No apologies needed - you can start a thread on anything you like - I just wanted to point you in this direction so you could check out some of the existing posts. :)

The balance thing seems very curious to me. Just general balance issues are more obvious - you are holding onto handlebars which steady you - same as a walker, similar to a cane (but a cane is obviously less stable). So this steadies you.

When walking with a cane I am constantly scanning the path ahead watching for small rocks, depressions etc. and also tend to have a side to side 'roll' with my gait. Falls are too frequent and this body, as it ages, does not recover from falls quite the way it did in years gone by.

I often 'wander' through lack of coordination and bump into walls, counters etc. when my balance decides to take me in another direction to the one my brain intended. Because at most times I look pretty good healthwise this can lead people to thinking I am drunk or just a little strange. Even when I have less use for it and am doing well I tend to keep my cane with me to "explain" for a sudden 'wander' into something!

Another type of balance problem for me is true vertigo. Not just a level of dizziness, or not being sure-footed, but the full throttle, room spinning nightmare of vertigo. This is a fairly common symptom of MS and can be absolutely disabling for some.

Mine is easily triggered by such things as scanning shelves in grocery stores looking for a product, waiting to cross a street with cars flashing by, strobe lights and more often than not, for no obvious reason at all. Fortunately for me sitting or standing with my eyes closed for a while will often result in things slowing down and the room returning to an even keel.

I had tremendous misgivings regarding the Segway before it arrived at my door. I believed that the balance issue would be somewhat of a problem, but was hoping it wouldn't make the Segway totally unusable.

Amazingly, in the months that I have been using it I have never once had a balance issue with it either from just straighforward dizziness, or from vertigo. I am astounded! Lazarus (from this forum) also has MS and has balance and vertigo problems. Previously she had used a wheelchair or scooter, but now zips around on her Segway and agrees, no problems with balance or vertigo. We are both curious as the the medical reasons for this.

Incidently, I pass several senior living buildings in my area and regularly get stopped by someone using a walker to get around. They are always full of questions and I am sure a lot of these folks could be helped by the use of the Segway.

Jill

Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[Bou]

Hi, y'all! First post here from me (although I'm known to Jillmac--hi, Jill!).

I have MS, and like several people here, I am able to walk with a cane, and I take wheelchairs and carts in large stores. I have major spasticity, a too-mobile pelvis, a dropped foot that is beginning to club, and almost no ability to bend my right knee. Walking is no longer a pleasant experience for me.

I have long dreamt of owning a Segway, and I just had a friend send me, out of the clear blue sky, the money to buy one! I have yet to decide whether I am capable of accepting such a generous gift, but I am considering it. So I'm glad to be here and see how it has helped other disabled people, especially those with balance issues. I've worried a bit about that. I'm not vertiginous--just lose balance because of using my strong side so much and likewise destabilizing my hip from two years of walking and standing with my weight shifted heavily to the left.

I am buying a house soon, and I have yet to decide whether the Seg would be good for the neighborhood I'm leaning toward. I also am interested in reading many other considerations about the Seg before buying one, but that it would be helpful for someone with ambulatory problems such as mine is without question!! To be able to move along, standing up, with no pain and at the same height as my companions--what a marvelous thing! (Hey! Dean Kamen! Want a girlfriend? Hee hee. Bless yer sweet heart, wherever you are.)

Looking forward to reading and writing here. (Oh, and Jill, if you know what has happened to our "other forum,"--if it is actually gone or what--please drop me a line. This loss of it has been driving me crazy! So good to see a familiar face again, so to speak.)

Best regards,

Bou

[BruceWright]

Welcome Bou!

If you need to try a Segway, you might ask around here for a person near you who would be more than happy to let you try theirs. If you're in Los Angeles, I volunteer mine.

I was also wondering what happened to your other forum. How long has it been out?

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[herpos]

The HT allows revenge.

When I used a wheelchair for an event like shopping, viewing, etc., people noting that usage (but not knowing me) would assume that being in a wheelchair also meant other disabilities-like hard of hearing and stupid. So they would speak very loudly and slowly to make sure I understood. Having a Harvard PhD made it a little hard to take, but I would smile stupidly and pretend accordingly.

Now when I am on the Segway my normal 6-3 frame extends to 6-11 (taller than almost anyone outside the NBA) and I can speak the same way to them- of course on the Segway no one knows you are disable except for the cane slung over the handlebars.

Others confined to wheelchairs have noted the same effect when strangers spoke to them. Alas, we do get weird habits.

[jillmac]

Bou - welcome! The MS forum (in fact the whole braintalk site) seems to have died! Hopefully this is something 'mendable' as it gives support to so many with neurological problems and provides not just medical support but emotional too. Probably a major 'burn' of the server. It happened several years ago, but not to this extent timewise.

Doing a search of Illinois I see there are six owners registered here. I don't know if anyone is geographically close to you or not, but we are a great bunch for giving demos. You might want to put a new post - 'anyone in Illinois willing to give me a demo before I buy?" and see what happens.

Lazarus (also from the forum) loves her Seg and from what she describes is more impacted from her MS than I am - search for her e-mail here and see what she has to say. Additionally, I corresponded with a gentleman who had quite a hard time walking and used a chair and after many e-mails he jumped right in and seems very happy.

Another friend who I gave some Segway time to has also gone ahead and got one (also a gift to him from friends). I don't know how he is doing with it but he managed just fine when I took mine over to his place. He is very severely impacted by some significant nerve damage to his spine (I had always assumed he had MS).

You cannot even begine to imagine the freedom the Segway gives you. To be out in the fresh air and totally mobile is an incredible feeling. Segway exceeded all my expectations and continues to amaze and thrill me. Bou - go for it!

Herpos - isn't that the truth. When you sit down in a wheelchair it immediately affects your sensibilities and hearing!!!! No wonder people don't want to use them until they absolutely have to!!! :)

Being on the Segway brings you back into the mainstream again and instead of being a non-person you are popular and in demand - Wow! That's heady stuff!

Jill





Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[Bou]

Hello, Jill! First off, a note to let you know that on another forum I read today that the server has some sorta problem and JL is on vacation. He's due back this weekend, so one hopes the MGH board will soon resurrect.

Thanks for all your good tips, and thanks, Bruce, for the offer of a demo! I'm about 2,000 miles away, though, so I'll have to take a pass for now.

I may well try to find a user who will demo for me in neighboring Illinois. I'm about an hour from the border and willing to travel.

Today I went out and checked my potential new neighborhood for sidewalks, of which there are enough on the more heavily traveled (and hilly and twisting) roads. I imagined rolling along them, and it was quite a thrill!

Herpos, I love your getting to tower over others on the Segway! I know how some people look at people in chairs; have some friends in them. It sucks. This is why when I take chairs in stores or take the motorized carts, I turn up the outrageous factor in my personality a notch or two. (I have a whole lot of settings on it, believe me.)

Instead of being someone to be ignored, I have become known by the entire staff of my usual shopping venues, as I chase them in the cart or sometimes give my Queen Elizabeth wave as I roll by. We all have fun with it. (That my grocery is one well known for hiring "different" folks, including the disabled, does help enormously, of course.)

Would I rather be walking normally, quickly, without pain? Sure. But if I have to have some device, I want to have fun with it, and I do. So, as I say, everyone now knows me, talks to me, and realizes that I'm no slouch in the intellect department just because my right side is crippled from the shoulder down. And if I roll in on a Segway, the conversational level is going to go off the scale, I just know it.

Now, as I say, I still have to decide whether or not I can accept this large gift of buying me a Seg, and it helps to know that someone else's friends bought one for him. I'm really leaning toward doing it, especially since my friend told me that if I can't wrap my brain around saying, yes, thank you, I'll take this five grand, I can pay him back over the years.

I think I'm in a win-win situation.

I'm not used to those!!!!

Bou

[billc]

Brilliant JillMAc and welcome and goodluck Bou ...

As for a doctor ...I've got a few trying to interpret some of the benefits and look liek we will be having a forum on clinical issues on Friday so that that will kicj up a lot of ideas (and probably far too manny questions!)

I'll try to keep you all up to date!

Bye for now



Bill Contoyannis
Manager / Rehabilitation Engineer, REHAB Tech
Centre for Biomedical Engineering - Monash University

[Lazarus]

Hi jill and Bou!
Just popped in to say hello. I got heat stroke at the Farmers' Market last Saturday and am barely moving/thinking. (By the way, SSusan saved my life at the market by helping me through to the bitter end!...)

I am still weak but much on the mend. YET, I used Seg to travel around my farm and to give me the traveling energy to herd my geese (what a sight!) who are very used to the Segway.

For the last 2 days, anytime I went out I Segged out of my living room to deliver messages to husband working the farm, walk the 5 dogs who are not on leashes (I'm lucky to have a farm) or to herd the geese who often go visit the dog next door....The Segway gives me such maneuverability that I can manage where the scooter would be too big to go/do what I did. I am a lucky person.
Linda

[jillmac]

Linda! Segway saves the day!!! OK - a bit of an overestimate........

I hope you are doing better - one thing I have found the past week, since our weather turned gorgeous (June gloom before) is how easily the sun can get to you while segging and you don't even notice. Two days running I got sunburned!!!! You thought I would have remembered the second day, but noooooooo.

Linda - we need PHOTOS of you herding the geese please.

I tried walking the dog - just in our cul-de-sac to see if I could do it (husband broke his collar bone and severed tendons on the 5th so no dog walking) but with my ancient hound it is impossible. He is totally dopey and has no idea what to do. I tried at very slow speeds for about 15 mins but much too dangerous. Can I send my pooch to summer camp at your house - maybe his manners would improve around your troop!?

Jill

Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[toybuilder]

Hey Jillmac,
I have my own doubts about the viability of walking a dog with a leash on the Segway (worry about wrapping), but if you're having a problem with the dog pulling against the leash, I strongly recommend trying a Gentle Leader or a Halti-collar. I put it on my Paula and she becomes extremely controllable. It's like night and day. Your pooch will resist and resent these "head harness" (they are not muzzles -- they can still open their mouths and chomp!) at first, but they learn to deal with it fairly quickly.
Joseph


http://www.pasadenasegway.org/
A bicycle in 1897 cost $25 ($2,200 today adjusted for inflation).
A Ford Model-T cost $850 in 1908 ($75,000 today adjusted for inflation).
(Can anyone point me to historical prices of horses?)

[PamSi]

Having walked several miles a day for years, and biked everywhere, I hate being confined to the car. But I have arthritis of the hips and limp too much to walk or bike very far.
I am waiting for the Metro with great anticipation.
IN OTHER WORDS, I CAN'T WAIT TO GLIDE!!
The 1990 census showed that 10 % of the population has difficulty walking 3 city blocks. Many of them will benefit from gliding.

[pwyckoff]

I have truncal dystonia, a movement disorder which precludes me from walking fully upright due to unrelieved muscle spasms.

I use the HT for nearly everything; business, meetings, planes, trains, downtown San Francisco, New York, Washington (previously posted my DC experience).

[jrmiller]

Hey Jillmac .....Bau...GO FOR IT !!!!! Jill, I have Parkinsons and with tremors and a balance problem, I am able to negotiate my HT about anywhere anyone else would go. It has been an a absolute blast and like herpos said, you are now heads above others and are now looked up to instead of down upon. JR SEG-ON

[billc]

jrmiller,

There's that balance issue again!

That's a fantastic "side effect (?)" if your balance is such that walking is difficult BUT standing and controlling the Segway is achievable....

We sway back and forth to maintain our balance, and walking is a kind of continuous falling and catching yourself....
I'm assuming that the Segway accounts for the amplitude of your sway and thus allows you to maintain control over a larger range (of sway) without fear or possibility of falling...
This is an "exciting" issue

Bill Contoyannis
Manager / Rehabilitation Engineer, REHAB Tech
Centre for Biomedical Engineering - Monash University

[marshai]

So glad I found this site!! I've learned so much already from everyone's experiences!!
Let me just add that my Segway has transformed my day-to-day existence. I have MS (first symptoms appeared in 1976) and over the past two years I've lost my ability to walk unassisted--I shuffle around indoors with the help of a cane and outdoors I've used a wheeled walker--but I tire easily and can't do long distances. Well--my Segway has changed all that! I'm no longer an isolated hermit in my office, leaving only when the job demands that I run an errand and trying to take care of as many errands as I could in a single trip--now you can't keep me in my office!--I ride my Segway around my workplace whenever and as often as I can--and actually get out and visit people. http://www.williams.edu/Biology/maltschuler/cuttingedge.html
I rode my Segway in the academic procession at Commencement this year (I hadn't been able to do the procession for four years) and took it to the graduating seniors' cocktail party (a lawn party--it handled beautifully in a crowd and I could zip from one group of students to another effortlessly--plus I was no longer 5'3" tall and could SEE above the crowd!--the HT sure could use a cupholder tho'). You want a few more liberating experiences??--I rode it last week in the town's 4th of July parade; I bypass the problem of limited handicapped parking spaces and ride it to as many concert, lecture, and theater venues as I can; I hang out with students at the college snackbar (the building was too remote for me to get to easily before); and last week (after I'd invested in a Trakfone just in case I got stranded...) I went off by myself on a remote hiking trail along our local river for an hour's ride--SO I'M ESSENTIALLY BACK IN MY HIKING SHOES AGAIN AND LOVING IT!! I love the sensation of being able to move faster than I've been able to move in years and to be able to move without having to concentrate on what my feet are doing--I cn actually look around at the scenery. My friends have all commented on my personality change back to the person they used to know--I smile a lot these days!

[jrmiller]

billc ....My balance is effected in the sense that if I start to back up, I keep going until I either fall or can grab something to stop the spiral effect. My forward balance is effected if I start to shufffle forward too fast and can not stop waithot assistance, I tend to fall forward until crashing. On the HT it all seems to go away. Why? I don't have a clue, but I'm sure glad that it does.


Bou, Nothing ventured nothing gained. You have an opportunity afforded to you that many would only dream of. It will give you back a freedom that you have not had for a while and probably never expected to regain. GO FOR IT !!!!!!!!! SEG-ON JR

[jrmiller]

BOU .... Where in INDY do you live. I moved to FL about 9 years ago after living in IN for about 40 yrs. If close to Indpls, I may be there the end of Oct. for a reunion and would be willing to give you a demo if you still by then request one. SEG-ON JR

[billc]

Thanks jrmiller and marshai...

Very intersteing amnd exciting stuff...
Off the top of my head...

It appers that your reflexex are slighlty dslower than your bodies ability to sway beyond your stable base.
The Segway is minimising the amplitude of sway (as it does to keep balance) which effectively lets your reflexes catch up!. End effect...you feel incredibly balanced and stable standing on a Segway (or even walking) ...even more so than on level ground...in fact the Segway for you IS stable ground whereas the ground is not!!!

This is very exciting stuff and thanks for your interaction!
(and helping me to pin-point why or where the benefits are
in my own geeky way!)

Okay , now to get a Segway onto a force plate and test the hypothesis.... ;)


Bill Contoyannis
Manager / Rehabilitation Engineer, REHAB Tech
Centre for Biomedical Engineering - Monash University

[SegwayBill]

Marshia
update your profile that you are an owner. My twin sister lives in Williamstown, when I come up to visit Maybe we could glide together. It is fun to share the experience.

Bill

[mulner]

This is the first time I have asked for help. 3 years ago i had a BAK cage fusion that resulted in "failed back" syndrome and arachnoiditis it is extreamly painfull to walk and a segway would change my life if you or anyone you may know that can finincally help me get a segway i would be indeted to you all forever I have never asked for anything like this in my life so it is hard for me.Please don't reply w/sorry bout your luck or ya who wouldnt want one? this could change my life.if this works out i will take care of it and when I can no longer stand I will donate it to sombody like me.thank you all.Pete mulner@excite.com ps please help i cant shop for myself and do the little things we all take for granted when we are healthy if you all could send me a couple dollars i could pay for it.I will not accept more money than it will cost me to get one Please think about it.I am only asking this because this is my last resort.thanks again

[Scotty]

quote:Originally posted by toybuilder

Hey Jillmac,
I have my own doubts about the viability of walking a dog with a leash on the Segway (worry about wrapping), but if you're having a problem with the dog pulling against the leash, I strongly recommend trying a Gentle Leader or a Halti-collar. I put it on my Paula and she becomes extremely controllable. It's like night and day. Your pooch will resist and resent these "head harness" (they are not muzzles -- they can still open their mouths and chomp!) at first, but they learn to deal with it fairly quickly.
Joseph

http://www.pasadenasegway.org/
A bicycle in 1897 cost $25 ($2,200 today adjusted for inflation).
A Ford Model-T cost $850 in 1908 ($75,000 today adjusted for inflation).
(Can anyone point me to historical prices of horses?)



I have a Lassie Collie and have been walking her ever since I got my Segway. She is a very calm dog and does not pull or lunge away from me. Some times she follows me and other times she leads. Since I have an artificail limb this has been great for me and the dog. Too bad others have not had as pleasant an experience as I have had.

[Terence]

I have been here before about my handicap - mainly about the success I had going through airports and how well I was treated.
My problem is severe peripheral vascular disease. The femoral and iliac arteries are so clogged up that little blood gets through. When I walk more than a few minutes, the muscles of my legs cramp so badly that I have to stop for at least an equal amount of time to let the oxygen get back and rid my legs of the lactic acid buildup.
I fit the category of not "looking" handicapped and getting some rude stares when I park in a handicapped spot, etc.
The Segway has freed me up to go places and do things that I had given up on ever doing again. (I have had this problem for over 15 years and have tried everything - including gene transplants - and nothing worked. At least now, if not cured, I can do a lot of the things I couldn't until a few months ago.

[jillmac]

Terrance - you must be thrilled with your Segway and certainly San Diego sidewalks are just made for it's use. The Segway certainly does set you free doesn't it.

I have been off mine for about a week/ten days and miss it so much (took a mini ride on Thursday). Health is improving and I intend to get out on it again today - I can barely wait!.

As far as dog walking - we adopted a pretty ungainly, untrained mutt from the pound and although we have got him a lot more trained than when we adopted him 8 years ago he still thinks he's a puppy at 13 years old and just loves to wander. Our fault entirely - we should have been firmer but he is definitely not a candidate for walking and Segging together!

Jill

Nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained..... Dr. Who

[mulner]

quote:Originally posted by trevor

My wife has severe Scoliosis which limits her ability to walk more than a few blocks without experiencing fatigue and pain. This was the reason for our purchasing the Segway and so far it has been a big success. I am currently researching getting a new car with a cargo area and an electric hoist so that Emily can use the Segway wherever she needs to go without my help loading & unloading the Segway.

Hi i am so glad to hear that the segway has worked so well For Emily I also am disabled but cannot afford a segway I asked for help in this forum but to my dismay nobody wants to finincially help me that i really couldnt believe but anyway i am not like that i will give the shirt off my back to help and have allways been that way money was nothing to me untill i lost everything due to a back disease.So if you could tell me what kind of car Emily has,trailor hitch ect and i believe i can designe a carrrer for her and maybe even have it made you just might have to pay for shipping i have ideas on paper now but tell me exactily what her limitations are and i will do the best i can o help her.your new fiend Pete

Pete