I just wanted to share how my BrailleNote has been such a life saver for my husband and I especially during these last few months. In April my husband had to go to the hospital because of a ruptured disc in his lower back. Well, the BrailleNote has played a crucial role in helping us as we move towards helping him recover. Here are just some of the ways:

KeyPlan: I'd used the planner to keep track of his numerous appointments with doctors. Also, my husband currently takes 10 prescription and over-the-counter meds--each on its own schedule--so being able to set and reschedule multiple alarms with the alarm text reading which meds he needed to take was helpful until we were able to slowly work down to 4 times a day so he could use a pill reminder we got for him. 

KeyList: I stored contact info for his various docs as well as friends who could help get me to & from the hospital or the pharmacy (until my husband was able to drive again) in the address list. I also had phone numbers & addresses for some friends in Little Rock just in case he had to be transferred to the VA medical hospital there.

KeyMail: I was able to check my mail from the hospital and share the warm wishes & healing prayers sent to us with my husband to help cheer him up. (However, because my mail server uses SMTP authentication, I had to wait until I got home to reply to any of those messages.)

KeyWord: This was, by far, the most used application. I had a file containing the scientific & generic (if applicable) names of his meds, their dosage, frequency, purpose, etc. I also used this file to track his pain levels, the effectiveness of his pain meds, & how long he'd have to wait until he could take the next dose. I had a file for what was discussed each time we saw a doctor or someone else in the know for future reference. I had a file describing all the exercises he had to do and tracked his progress as we slowly worked up to the full number of repetitions. 

Writing all those things down was helpful for both of us as the meds were affecting his cognitive abilities & my chronic illness affects mine. There were times when he appeared to be alert & participating in the conversations with the specialists (i.e., his immediate memory was OK), but when I reminded him about something that was said later (after reviewing it in KeyWord), I learned it hadn't been committed to his short-term or long-term memory.

In addition to all of the above, the calculator, book reader, file transfer ability, long battery life, the ability to translate between Braille and print and between MS Word and other file types (which makes editing my husband's papers easier), and so on have been welcome & appreciated additions to helping improve my quality of life. I especially enjoy the ability to have several electronic books (both Web Braille & other Braille files as well as print files--some of which were scanned from books--translated into Braille) in one compact unit, as my chronic illness often leaves me with low energy levels and sitting at the computer or dealing with large Braille books and magazines is often difficult.

I guess what I'm saying is that--just as I can't imagine life without my husband, so too, I can't imagine going back to life without my BrailleNote. I don't regret the purchase of my BrailleNote all those months ago. Keep up the great work, HumanWare!!”

Ronalene White