rj711

i participated in the four day healing retreat with john of god from brasil recently...he and his staff were at omega in rhinebeck, ny...i walked in front of him on monday which was the day i had my spiritual intervention...i revert to preverbal stages of development when endeavoring to describe what some of these experiences are like...some of them seem uneventful for sure but this wasn't one of those...i'll continue to see him as often as possible in conjunction with the wonderful pt/exercise i'm also committed to as far as bioness goes, i was finally taken off the 'high security alert' list by whomever in the billing department...i was contacted via email to arrange for the problem i was experiencing back in june to finally be resolved...eeeccchhhh is all that still comes to mind thinking about how the billing office handled me...does any one have info/experience to share re WALKAIDE??...i'm very interested in what the comparisons are between the two products/companies...please weigh in with any feedback you have??...with thanks, rich

hi kimmee...hmmm...i'll check out walkaide...yeah bioness is way pricey and was shockingly unethical when it comes to the allmighty dollar or whatever currency they use in israel...yeech...best always, r

hi asha...well friend now is the time to buy...prices are still sloping downward even here on the coastal areas...no one yet knows what the new normal is going to be...if you like monmouth county, i have just the realtor for you...i've known her for years...but please visit me...it would be great to meet you...i'll throw a hw party just for you and your husband!...or at least a bbq...where are you in the jardin state??...best, rich

yeah Bioness policy rubbed me the wrong way for several different reasons...thanks for sharing about your program/improvements!...i'll throw a beach party when i start to see some functional usage from my affected hand!...congrats on bye byes to the hemi!...best, rich

hey bonnie!...i hear you regarding the weeds being faster...lol...next year my contractor is making me raised beds in the back of my property...please put that newbie in touch with me...sct anywhere usually runs in the tens of thousands...i'd love to share my experiences of course!...this weekend is suuny and warm enough to have a lunch tomorrow with visiting friends from the city right on the boardwalk/beach...woo hoo...thanks for sharing about your improvements...mine really took me by surprise frankly... anyone else want to share??

hi cg ruth...great to read your post...yup we can all be resources for one another...who better??...my best to you and yours, rich

hey stessie...yeah i mean if someone that knows me sees me walk down the block i doubt they'd comment but i see the improvements i stated and they are as real as real can get...i try to generate gratitude for any noticeable improvements and share about them here to rally the troops...we know that the brain has neuroplasticity and responds to repeated demands... maybe i've been more demanding??...i sure don't have the answers...so much still feels like banging around in the dark i just keep banging!...if you've read any of my past blogs, i also keep up with reporting on therapies that cost peeps like us literally thousands of dollars...we all need to network our positive and negative experiences in this area...my income generating days are over, or at the least significantly shortened...Bioness, Inc is an israeli owned company that has behaved similarly to the israeli government at times: doing exactly what it wants often in a distinct narsissitic fashion...ugh is right...Bioness needs a little poke that at least one of their customers doesn't care for that type of treatment and is very willing to blog about it to a base of people who might use their costly products...bye for now...

hi all...i got myself into a zen state of mind over the summer now that i live 500 feet from the ocean and all the construction on my house is completed...all i wanted to do was gardening and lounge in the sun (what little there was) on my deck with my cat hOOver...several weeks ago i moved into a proactive mode and lucked out finding a trainer/pt guy on craig'slist...he's the jackpot!...i didn't think i'd ever find just the right person to work with in my new location but the gods have been kind indeed...in a few weeks we are seeing improvements that are nothing less than amazing!...in particular i was never able to effectively flex my knee while prone...my hamstrings were sooooo weak...now i can fairly easily get to just past 90 degrees!...supine i can now raise my affected arm albeit with a whole lot of initial shaking over my head and then lower it back to the table with control!...my finger extension is nonfunctional but who knows where this is all going...i'm 3 1/2 years out but seeing marked improvements...does anyone out there have any insight/experience like this to share??...i'd love to hear it!...my big day monday was to go to the beach: i carried my sand chair from my car myself, opened it, sat down and got up by myself (after a few practice moves)...mike was next to me but didn't assist...no enabler he!...i felt like a million bucks knowing that i could do this on my own...we walked down to the water just to get my feet wet...ahhhhhhh salt water never felt so good...i've bumped up my sessions to 3x's/week...my god at 55 i'm getting toned abs again!...sheesh!...my affected knee has a tendency to drift medially during squats but i work hard to maintain more laterality which takes a lot of effort and concentration...i actually enjoy doing the cobra moves while prone as this strengthens my low back and helps maintain proper posture...i'm praying that all the actions i've taken are having a cumulative tho somewhat delayed result...??...can't say but i'm grateful to be using my body in these ways for today! next i've got ranting to do about Bioness, Inc the makers of the L300 stim orthosis which can be effective in helping drop foot by stimulating the tibialis anterior muscle when the affected leg is advanced...for this piece of equipment i tossed them $6,000 in full no insurance reimbursement of any kind then proceeded to purchase the H200 system which basically does the same thing for the affected hand: it stims the fingers and thumb into extension as well as various other modes of exercise...$6,200 for this diddy on a payment plan this time...with the combination of the economic crisis and my move i needed to ask them to refi the last $500...yes that a whopping $500...i asked to pay $100/month for 5 months to complete my payments in full...they rudely refused to grant this arrangement despite my perfect payment history with their company in addition to having a fico credit score of 800+...the real kick in the pants for me was that they cancelled an $8 order for a minor part i needed to use my L300 with a new pair of sandals until i agreed to their payment terms of two successive monthly payments of $250 each...just when i thought it couldn't get worse, phone calls to their tech department have gone unanswered since june in relation to a malfunction which they were already aware of with my L300...so i agreed to their payment terms tho it caused me unwarranted hardship...they got it their way now i'll get it my way in continuing my crusade to get companies and service providers to treat stroke survivors with consideration and respect...the same consideration and respect any company would treat a client that just spent $12,200 for their products ...i have come to believe that as a stroke survivor providers of care as well as suppliers just do not extend the same degree of consideration that they would normally extend to others...even merely as a good business practice never mind the ethical implications...i for one am not taking this poor treatment silently...i caution anyone entering into a costly financial arrangement with Bioness, Inc to factor in my ongoing experience with them...not a dollar is insurance reimburseable under any plan including medicare...i will continue to blog about this until my phone calls are returned and the problem with my unit is corrected...Bioness deserves at least that much! best to all, stem cell acupuncture richxxx

bonnie, donna, asha...wonderful to see your words on my blog!...you guys can come over for a bbq any time, any day...did i read that steve is in the hospital??...best always, richxxx

greetings!...omg my move from the big town was a trip and a half...now that the weather is nicer i'm coming out of hibernation...not too much is so different...i'm registered to attend john of god's 4 day healing gathering at omega in ny this september and will most probably go back to brasil to the casa as well...perhaps in july...i've connected with a couple of quality therapists down here for which i'm grateful...my pt holds a doctorate in his field specializing in neural rehab...he knows what to do to get whatever he can firing in my affected muscles...wonderful to work with the competent and effective!...my ot guy gets a slightly lower grade but he's completely adequate and works in tandem with a bioness rep on my ness h200 orthosis...this also makes my gratitude list...i needed to have my ness l300 leg orthosis tweaked as it got very untweaked (and misplaced) during the move...it's functioning again most of the time now...ahhhh when my affected heel strikes the ground before the rest of my foot it provides a delicious instant gratification tho my gait is still far from normal...i was contacted by an investigative journalist seeking patients with experience in overseas therapy...her focus is twofold: how one gets there and what happens thereafter...as some of you might imagine, i had my share of experiences to render on the record without too much prompting...this is all info so that others can make better choices before parting with tens of thousands of dollars...this reporter is truly working in the public's best interests...i've had some elevated flower beds installed on my property so that i can resume one of my passions: gardening...i find myself cooking everyday now that i have a big sit down kitchen...i include my left hand in some of these activities in ways that i never thought i could...i'll still blog from time to time just in case anyone is still reading...!!!...my very best to all, rich

hi...i don't see your contact info...??

send me your contact info...too much to type!...best, rich