My Upcoming Disability/Situation

[Starcom21]

My Upcoming Disability/Situation
Hello everyone.... just want to let y'all in on some personal info...

On Friday September 19th, I will be having surgery to repair my (completely) torn rotator cuff on my right shoulder. After recovered from that, I'll need surgery on my left shoulder.

Yes, I'll have some well deserved time off from work, but unfortunately this is going to be a very painful operation and long recovery/rehabilitation.

I'll be at home, I'm sure, a lot.... wanting to be on the computer. Yes, I may be here online, but not sure how well it'll be attempting to do the things I love.

So, I do have a question...

Is anyone aware of or have experience with any Windows programs to assist those with disabilities?
(for example, it will be very hard to use mouse and keyboard with the right arm)

I did find a program at Target, called "Naturally Speaking 9" - but did not buy and have not done any research on it yet.

I did a little research online for programs, but didn't come up with much (probably not using the right keywords)

... unfortunately, I'm not getting good response from Work Comp, so this will soon get much uglier with attorney intervention.

Best regards...

Terry Weatherford , WX9SAR
229 Glen Lake Drive
Glen Carbon IL 62034 (Madison County)

Owner/moderator of multiple yahoo groups
RadioReference.com IL/MO/MI Database/Forum Admin

 

[KE0SKN]

I have one hand to do everything in life Along with having RA with pain all over my body. Once you get the hang of it you will be like me. Fastest one hand typer....lol.... Don't worry about using speach to text software. Its a wast of time in training the software to reconize your voice. If you need help or questions PM me with your phone number and I will call you and help you out. I have been with one arm all my life. Just got the RA last year. Soon I will be in a wheel chair. But not even that can spoil my good life. Alls you need to do is adapt to the new suroundings.

 

[shaft]

Sorry to hear that Terry. My wife went thru something similar a few years ago as a result of a high speed crash we were in. She found that using a trackball mouse was wonderful and has used it ever since. It required her virtually no movement in her shoulder and was able to switch hands when needed.

I have to agree with the speach to text software. They are a pain to use and requires a lot of training to get mediocre results. Learning to type one handed is pain, but hopefully you can overcome the hunt and pecking of the keys.

Theres a few of us in the area, if you need anything, feel free to hit me up.

 

[mjthomas59]

Terry,

Sorry to hear about your injuries. Learning to type one handed isn't perfect but can be done. Its just slow compared to both hands... I use to laugh when I was in school because i could type faster with one hand than most of the students could with both, but still it limits your productivity which sucks.

As far as the software goes, I vote for it. When I was in the academy one of my fellow recruits told us all about this "mythical software" that could turn our hundreds of pages of hand written notes into Word documents in little to no time. So this same recruit provided us with several copies of the software. Those that got the software had 100% of their notes in computer format within about a week. The rest of us basically just gave up on typing them by hand.

I believe they were using Dragon Naturally Speaking v. 8 or something like that. It worked great for them when needing to put that much info into Word or Works. I believe there is some setup time as far as the voice recognition goes, and just getting use to the format of the program, but it could prove very useful long after you get through your rehab which could make it worth your time.

I hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery! Thanks for your hardwork on this site and the Yahoo Groups!

 

[weeksben1]

Might I suggest using a trackball (basically a mouse turned upside down), Windows also has feature as part of its accessibility features that would allow you to use the number pad keys in place of a mouse. The nice thing about a trackball is that if you can move your fingers, you can control the cursor. I've found them at most office supply and/or computer stores for around $30.00 on up. Hopefully, some of these ideas can help make the recovery process a bit easier for you.

 

[jhooten]

Had an inch and a half bone spur removed and rotator cuff repair done. Wore the sling for 5 days (because they made me) and was back to work (on light duty) in 7. Was on the computer within 3 hours of gettin home from the hospital.

Prop the forearm on the desk and move the mouse with the the wrist. Hunt and peck with your left hand. Easy as pie.

 

[Starcom21]

Online Scanners/Surgery Update

OK, the surgery went well. You can see pics of me AND the surgery on my myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/tmweatherford

Online scanners:

-----IL/Madison County
Since my BCT-396T will be at home with me, most of the time, I worked on fixing the issue I had with it and put it back online.
It includes area 911, some Local LTRs & Motorola Trunked systems AND STARCOM21.

-----St Louis City/County
Includes nearly ALL Fire, Police and EMS Agencies in St. Louis City and County.
At this time St. Louis City is still (back to) using their old system.
The new P25 system is NOT in use at this time due to issues.

All available online at scanamerica.us

Thanks
Terry

 

[n9mxq]

Looks good Terry, same abduction pillow/sling rig I had after my first one.

Looks like the surgery went well. Be patient and take it slow.. Keep us posted.. I bet in about 4 weeks he'll have you in physical therapy..