can i use ssi include in .shtml for Poll script?

I am having really tough time getting this script to work. The poll is placed in .shtml page and looks good. however, when i click on the vote button, the vote does not get registered and the page does not load with poll result.

my server tech tells me this.

"The problem is that you can't parse SSI and PHP in the same file in apache 1.33.
If you're going to use PHP you need to change the .SHTML file to a .PHP file and use a PHP Include statement, not an SSI virtual include."

changing my site pages to .php is not really an option for me.
any suggestion on what i can do here?