Rico needs your help to stay mobile.

Greetings, fellow Dopers and friends! A bit of backstory, I joined the SDMB in 1997, when the group was still on AOL. I signed up for the Web SDMB the first day it was available in 1999. Moderator status came in 2002, and my late wife and I sponsored three Southern California dopefests. I am currently on staff as a Moderator Emeritus, which is why you don't see much of me.

I'm retired now, and on Medicare. I need your help. My legs are starting to give out on me. I currently use a walker, but I have been told that it will soon become inadequate and I will be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

Medicare will only pay for a manual wheelchair, but I have been told by my doctor that I need an electric chair that has a large weight limit. I will also need a truck-mounted carrier that will allow me to transport the chair anywhere.

I have priced the chair at approximately $1500 and the truck-mounted transport at about $500. Plus, there is some medical debt from both a heart attack and a pulmonary embolism. My savings were depleted after the first heart attack, and if it wasn't for Social Security, I'd be in really deep doodoo.

Thank you for any assistance you are able to offer. I appreciate all of you, whether I have known you for two days or 25 years. May the Dope be with you always.