you must be a God send because I have been looking for a computer for
my dad!!!! He is in the final stages of PD and a laptop was
recommended by his speech therapist!!! We just need a simple laptop
with voice program so he can try and type what he wants to say. He can
put NASCAR picks and use pics for conversations. If you have a way of
helping us i would be sooo happy. Please let me know. Thank you so
much, Amy


--- In nobordersforparkinsondisease@yahoogroups.com, "sadpdmonkey"
<monkey508@...> wrote:
>
> HELLO I AM IN THE BEGINNING STAGES OF STARTING A FOUNDATION TO PLACE
> USED CORPORATE PC'S IN THE HOMES OF PEOPLE WITH MOVEMENT DISORDERS WHO
> CAN NOT AFFORD THEM.
>
> THIS ALL STARTED ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO WHEN I STARTED TO TREMOR, IT
> INCREASINGLY KEPT GETTING WORSE AND BECAME PAINFUL, SO I HAD TO QUIT
> WRITING AND I STARTED USING PDA'S AND LAPTOPS TO DO MY WORK ON. I
> FINALLY BIT THE BULLET AND WENT TO MY FAMILY DOCTOR WHO THEN REFERRED
> ME TO ABOUT 10 DIFFERENT NEUROLOGISTS.
>
> I WAS MISDIAGNOSED AT 1ST AS HAVING ESSENTIAL TREMORS, BUT IN THE BACK
> OF MY MIND I KNEW I HAD PARKINSON'S, BECAUSE THE TREMORS NEVER QUIT,
> THEY KEPT GETTING WORSE, AND WERE VERY PAINFUL. I HAD SEEN SO MANY
> NEUROLOGISTS AND HAVE TRIED SO MANY DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS AND NOTHING
> WAS WORKING. I DISTINCTIVELY REMEMBER MY FIRST QUESTION TO EACH AND
> EVERY NEUROLOGISTS "DO I HAVE PARKINSON'S". AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS "NO
> YOUR WAY TO YOUNG".
>
> I FINALLY HAD ENOUGH AND CHANGED MOVEMENT CENTERS AND IT CHANGED MY
> WORLD. I WAS REFERRED TO THE LITVAN INSTITUTE AND WITH IN 45 MINS AND
> THE BASIC UPDARS TESTING THEY CAME BACK AND TOLD ME I HAD PARKINSON'S.
> HONESTLY I WAS GLAD TO HAVE A NAME TO PUT WITH THE DISEASE THAT WAS
> CAUSING SO MUCH PAIN AND HAVOC IN MY LIFE.
>
> THEY STARTED ME ON SENIMET AND MIROPEX AND THEY HAVE HELPED ME
> TREMENDOUSLY. BUT MY TREMORS STILL ARE THERE JUST NOT AS BAD. SINCE I
> AM RESPONSIVE TO THE DRUGS AND MY TREMORS ARE PRETTY SEVERE I HAVE
> BEGUN THE TESTING PROCESS FOR DBS AND I'M MORE EXCITED THAN A KID ON
> XMAS MORNING.
>
> MOST OF MY LIFE I HAVE LIVED WITH THE PHILOSOPHY OF "PAY IT FORWARD".
> AND HAVE TRIED TO ADHERE TO IT. I DO A LOT OF RESEARCH ON LINE, GO TO
> SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS, AND ATTEND CONFERENCES TO STAY ON TOP OF ANY
> NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WICKED DISEASE. I AM ON LINE RESEARCHING OR
> IN CHAT ROOMS PRETTY MUCH 24/7, SO MY COMPUTER IS PART OF MY LIFE.
>
> AFTER ONE OF MY LAPTOPS HAD BROKEN IT GOT ME TO THINKING WHAT ABOUT
> THE PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT AFFORD A COMPUTER? HOW DO THEY GET THEIR
> INFORMATION? WHO IS HELPING THEM? HOW CAN I CHANGE THIS.
>
> OVER THE YEARS I HAVE MADE MANY CONTACTS IN THE ELECTRONICS FIELD AND
> TRIED TO STAY ON TOP OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY. AS TECHNOLOGY CHANGES SO
> QUICKLY CORPORATIONS SWAP OUT THEIR COMPUTER SYSTEMS PRETTY MUCH EVERY
> OTHER YEAR. WHERE DO THESE COMPUTERS GO? WELL WITH SOME RESEARCH I
> FOUND OUT A LOT. SEVERAL BIG COMPANIES DONATE TO A WONDERFUL
> FOUNDATION CALLED CHRISTIANA'S FOUNDATION. THEY IN TURN DISTRIBUTE OUT
> TO OTHER NON FOR PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. BUT THE THING I DIDN'T SEE WAS
> COMPANIES DONATING TO INDIVIDUALS WITH MOVEMENT DISORDERS. PEOPLE ON A
> FIXED INCOME WHO COULD NOT AFFORD A COMPUTER AND NEED THEM TO STAY IN
> CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD, DO RESEARCH ON THE DISEASE THAT WAS
> CONTROLLING THEIR LIVES, AND BE ABLE TO VISIT CHAT ROOMS TO BE AROUND
> PEOPLE LIKE THEM WHO THEY CAN RELATE TO AND SHE STORIES AND ASK
QUESTIONS.
>
> SO I DECIDED THAT I NEEDED TRY AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. SO I STARTED
> ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO CALLING COAST TO COST, TALKING TO ANY AND EVERYBODY
> WHO WOULD LISTEN. THEN I PLACED A FREE AD ON WWW.CRAIGSLIST.COM ASKING
> FOR ANY OLD PC'S THAT ANYONE WANTED TO GET RID OF AND I WAS SWAMPED
> WITH REPLIES. THEN I DECIDED TO CALL FRIENDS IN THE COMPUTER BUSINESS
> AND THEY ALL HAVE STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE AND DONATED SEVERAL PC'S.
>
> SO HERE WE ARE TODAY, I HAVE COMPUTERS THAT NEED HOMES AND I'M LOOKING
> FOR HOMES TO PLACE THEM IN. MOST OF THESE COMPUTERS ARE AMD OR PENTIUM
> PROCESSORS 1 GIG OR HIGHER, 20 GIG HARD DRIVES, ON AVERAGE 256 MB OF
> MEMORY, AND INTERNET READY. THESE ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL GAMING
> COMPUTERS, THESE ARE GOOD SOLID COMPUTERS TO GET YOU ON THE NET AND DO
> RESEARCH AND GET THE HELP NEEDED.
>
> I AM DOING THIS OUT OF MY OWN POCKET, I PAY FOR THE GAS TO PICK THEM
> UP IN MY OWN VAN AND I GO THROUGH THEM TO TRY AND GET ANY INFORMATION
> OFF BEFORE THEY ARE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE IN NEED. I DO NOT AND WILL NOT
> MAKE 1 RED CENT OFF OF ANY OF THIS. I JUST THINK THAT THERE ARE WAY TO
> MANY COMPUTERS GOING TO WAIST THAT CAN BE PLACED IN HOMES OF PEOPLE
> WITH MOVEMENT DISORDERS WHO CAN NOT AFFORD THEM.
>
> I STILL HAVE A LOT TO FIGURE OUT AND WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF
> OBTAINING A NON FOR PROFIT FOUNDATION STATUS, ETC, ETC, ETC. ONE OF
> THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS SHIPPING. SHIPPING A
> COMPUTER COST MONEY AND I DON'T HAVE ANY LOL. SO I AM IN THE MIDDLE
> OF APPLYING FOR A GRANT TO HELP COVER THAT CHARGE, BUT UNTIL THAT GOES
> THROUGH THE ONLY WAY I CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN IS I'VE DECIDED TO ASK THE
> RECIPIENT OF THE COMPUTER TO PAY FOR THE SHIPPING UNLESS WE GET
> DONATIONS OR I WORK A DEAL WITH UPS OR ONE OF THE OTHER CARRIERS. THE
> COMPUTERS WOULD BE FREE AND WOULD BE AS IS, NO WARRANTY, NO TECH
> SUPPORT, AND WE CAN NOT BE HELP RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. I WISH I WAS
> DELL,HP,IBM,ETC BUT I NEITHER HAVE THE TIME OR THE FUNDS TO DO ANY OF
> THE ABOVE MENTIONED.
>
> SO NOW HERE WE ARE, YOU HAVE READ MY WHOLE PLAN AND HOPEFULLY I WAS
> CLEAR ABOUT EVERYTHING. NOW IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WITH A MOVEMENT
> DISORDER AND IS IN NEED OF A COMPUTER PLEASE HAVE THEM CONTACT ME AT
> pc4pplwmd@... . I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF CREATING A SCREENING
> PROCESS TO WEED OUT THE PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT SOMETHING FOR FREE. I
> WANT THESE TO GO TO PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED AN COMPUTER. ANOTHER THING
> IS I MAY ONLY HAVE A COMPUTER TOWER WHEN THE REQUEST COMES IN SO THAT
> MAY BE ONLY WHAT WE CAN SEND YOU, REMEMBER WE DON'T HAVE A BUDGET ALL
> THIS COMES FROM DONATIONS.
>
> THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND I HOPE THIS TAKES OFF AND WE CAN MAKE THIS
> A NATIONWIDE SERVICE TO PEOPLE IN NEED. AND REMEMBER TO ALWAYS PAY IT
> FORWARD.
>
> PLEASE CONTACT US AT,
> pc4pplwmd@...
>