How many with health issues helped by Segway? - Page 4

jrmiller · 07-09-2003, 12:28 PM

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 · 07-09-2003, 10:41 PM

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 · 07-10-2003, 12:24 AM

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/malt...ttingedge.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 · 07-10-2003, 01:09 AM

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 · 07-10-2003, 01:18 AM

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 · 07-10-2003, 01:43 AM

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 · 07-10-2003, 12:38 PM

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 · 08-27-2003, 10:35 PM

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 [email protected] 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 · 08-28-2003, 01:39 PM

Quote:

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 · 08-29-2003, 10:02 PM

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.

07-09-2003, 12:28 PM	#31
jrmiller Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: , Florida, USA. Posts: 223	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

07-09-2003, 10:41 PM	#32
billc Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, , Australia. Posts: 92	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

07-10-2003, 12:24 AM	#33
marshai New Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. Posts: 14	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/malt...ttingedge.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!

07-10-2003, 01:09 AM	#34
jrmiller Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: , Florida, USA. Posts: 223	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

07-10-2003, 01:18 AM	#35
jrmiller Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: , Florida, USA. Posts: 223	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

07-10-2003, 01:43 AM	#36
billc Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, , Australia. Posts: 92	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

07-10-2003, 12:38 PM	#37
SegwayBill Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix AZ Posts: 858	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

08-27-2003, 10:35 PM	#38
mulner New Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: boyne, mi, USA. Posts: 8	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 [email protected] 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

08-29-2003, 10:02 PM	#40
Terence New Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: San Diego, CA, USA. Posts: 13	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.

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