How many with health issues helped by Segway? - Page 3

BruceWright · 07-04-2003, 01:20 PM

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 · 07-04-2003, 05:44 PM

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 · 07-04-2003, 09:35 PM

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 · 07-05-2003, 01:48 AM

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 · 07-07-2003, 02:40 AM

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 · 07-07-2003, 07:01 PM

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 · 07-07-2003, 10:35 PM

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 · 07-08-2003, 04:13 AM

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 · 07-08-2003, 07:26 PM

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 · 07-08-2003, 08:49 PM

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).

07-04-2003, 01:20 PM	#21
BruceWright Advanced Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles), California, USA. Posts: 3,296	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

07-04-2003, 05:44 PM	#22
herpos Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: , , . Posts: 49	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.

07-04-2003, 09:35 PM	#23
jillmac Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: San Juan Capistrano, California, . Posts: 510	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

07-05-2003, 01:48 AM	#24
Bou New Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: , Indiana, USA. Posts: 5	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

07-07-2003, 02:40 AM	#25
billc Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, , Australia. Posts: 92	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

07-07-2003, 07:01 PM	#26
Lazarus Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Feeding Hills, MA, . Posts: 144	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

07-07-2003, 10:35 PM	#27
jillmac Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: San Juan Capistrano, California, . Posts: 510	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

07-08-2003, 04:13 AM	#28
toybuilder Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Pasadena, CA, . Posts: 935	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?)

07-08-2003, 07:26 PM	#29
PamSi Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Sacramento, California, . Posts: 60	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.

07-08-2003, 08:49 PM	#30
pwyckoff New Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: San Francisco, CA, . Posts: 5	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).

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