Thank you all, so much for the thoughts and prayers..it…really makes me feel good.
Since I can’t avoid the computer here, I’m going to go stay with my grandma in another part of the state for a little while, and commute to the doctor. It’s drastic but I want to keep my arms. 
okay, I’m using voice activated software.
You have to train it to respond to your voice, it’s a commitment
of time and energy, but it does work.
The main thing is to learn to live so that you can go on doing what used to do, without doing what creates the problem.
I’m barely in control of this stuff, I mean the software, but the principal thing
is to move into problem solving mode.
also, I’ve found that sooner or later I have to rely on my own judgment,
more than I do on medical professionals. there’s a lot of lore about
these weird conditions, and how to treat them, known mostly to sufferers.
doctors and even therapists may not know all you need to .know.
knowledge is power. the more actively you address the problem,
the better you probably feel. best wishes
ps. it needs to be tart cherry juice concentrate.
an online search will find it
Jim,
What does the cherry juice do?
I investigated voice activation software for use at work about 1.5-2 years ago. It seemed that there were basically 2 choices: 1) VERY expensive (>$500) and requiring a significant investment of time on the part of the user, or 2) reasonable price (<$100) but I had to spend more time editing the text that I dictated that it wasn’t worth the effort. Maybe the software has improved by now.
Mike
The cherry juice damps down inflammation-- jim w recommended it to
me, and seems to help.
I can hardly testify about voice activated software, because
I’m just beginning to use it. However I know of professional philosophers
who swear by it, so I’m hoping for the best.
I’m using Dragon naturally speaking, which cost about $150.
Or who less, because it’s sometimes part of a package with other software.
Mostly the trouble is trading it to recognize my voice,
anyway I have no choice. I really need to save my arms for playing
music. The main trouble is forcing myself to use it, and not just going back to the keyboard. But it’s an interesting experience talking to the computer. Best
I don’t know if this means anything to anyone - but from our experience, Dragon is a great company. I bought my Wife a Chinese language program from them back in 1997. She still uses it. She says it’s better than anything else she’s tried, even some of the industry standard stuff she used when she wrote for the Chinese newspaper. It is well designed and very easy to interface with. If the voice software is as well thought out I’ll bet it’s great.
Dragon was the expensive product I referred to above. Either it has gone down in price a great deal, or they have a new product, or all the extra technical modules (medical, engineering) I would need at work bumped up the price. I’ll have to look into it again. I’m glad we had this conversation.
Mike
Edit: I just searched for Dragon Naaturally Speaking, current price is US$295. With the medical or legal module the price is $995. I guess it hasn’t changed much over the last few years. Too bad.
Well Cranberry,
You’ve only been on the board a short while, but in that time, you’ve made quite a few friends. I wish you the best.
BTW. IBM also makes a speech to text program called VIA Voice. I don’t know anything about it beyond the fact that its out there. Does anyone have any experience with this program?
No, I bought DNS for 150 at a software shop in
St. Louis–standard price here in such shops.
It’s included for free with WP.10 I think.
Maybe there are different versions? Best
PS. DNS is supposed to be better than Via Voice,
we’ve been told by shops that sell both. For
what it’s worth.
PPS. Just called Software Plus, a standard softwarestore.
Standard DNS is 99, the ‘preferred’ version 164.
Cranberry,
I use DNS Standard 4.0 for several different tasks and find it mostly satisfactory. I picked it up on ebay a year or so back for around $30…Hmmm, let me see something…
OK, I just checked ebay out and they have DNS Standard 6.0 with a headset for the “buy it now” price of $22.98. At that price it is worth giving it a shot. You are in my prayers, too.
Frank