Max Characters In RTE?

BTW, I found a Javascript function that calculates remaining character totals on the fly, and it works...  but not when the RTE is functioning on the form.  I'm sure it has something to do with the textarea's identity being changed when the RTE is functioning.  If you can offer some insight into how this script could be adapted, it might help:

Script (simply displays the number of remaining characters into a text field):
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
function textCounter(field,cntfield,maxlimit) {
cntfield.value = maxlimit - field.value.length;
}
</script>

Text Area:
<textarea id="EntryText" name="EntryText" cols="75" rows="25" onKeyDown="textCounter(document.myForm.EntryText,document.myForm.remLen1,7000)"
onKeyUp="textCounter(document.myForm.EntryText,document.myForm.remLen1,7000)"></textarea>

Field Where Remaining Character Count Is Displayed:
<input readonly type="text" name="remLen1" size="25" maxlength="25" value="7000">
characters left