Life after cancer, or how iPhone has helped me to return to a healthy lifestyle
Inspiration Ios / / December 22, 2019
In late 2011, my life changed: I was diagnosed with "Hodgkin's lymphoma» (IV stage). Cancer psychological impact on me, my family and friends, as well as significantly affected the physical form.
Last year I decided to regain control of his body, habits and health. To do this, I began to track all processes of their life: training, eating, sleeping, time spent with family and at work. In other words, I decided that I will not let cancer and its consequences to command me.
I want to be healthy. Life has given me a second chance, and I'll use them.
prehistory
I was never an athlete, but he was not Lanky - normal child. After school I scored in the university and immediately went to work. Of course, I worked on the computer.
In the 20 years I smoked, I ate whatever and was indifferent to ZOZhu. "We live once!" - I thought.
Ignoring the exercise and control over their habits led me to a slight back pain, problems with posture, and other negative consequences. This is not surprising when you consider that most of the day I spent sitting at the table, at least activity and fresh air. I go out "into the light" I'm only on weekends, and only to drink at the party and much regret this Sunday morning.
This went on for about four years. Overall, I was fine. Big deal, inactive; I think, shortness of breath. I did not complain. But for some reason I was losing weight.
Now I'm wary of the various "somehow", when it comes to health. As it turned out, the weight loss was one of the first symptoms of cancer. It was followed by fever at night, sweating, itching, weakness, lethargy, lack of appetite and other "funny" signals, which I have long ignored. As a result - lost time, IV stage. It was necessary to begin treatment as soon as possible. I understand that chemotherapy severely affect the body, but it's still better than dying at age 23.
I started courses of chemotherapy in January 2012. They followed each other with minimal gaps. Unfortunately, everything was going well enough. The doctors said that would save me, but it takes time and patience. I stuffed with steroids, so I would not exhausted and could maintain an acceptable standard of living.
What I could not do is to see the weeping mother, when she looked at his only 24-year-old son, the bald because of chemistry.
I continued chemotherapy, did PET and magnetic resonance imaging, handed over analyzes - until August 2012. But none of the chemotherapeutic drugs did not work as it should. Oncologist advised to try something more modern: to destroy the immune system, and then restore it using autologous stem cell transplantation.
To this end, in August 2012, I was hospitalized. I increased the dosage of steroids. Then, lying on the hospital bed, I began to study the program Pythonista, Allows you to write on iOS to iOS, and to comprehend the basics of Python.
Lethal consequences of chemotherapy were so physically heavy that not even want to describe them. I could not eat or move 10 days, though I was not at all. But stem cells have started the recovery process, and steroids helped restore power.
The last stage of the treatment was the radiation therapy (alas, even the strongest chemistry did not kill all of the cancer cells). And soon I got negative results of PET - the enemy was defeated,.
But during the radiotherapy, I felt a sharp pain in his right hip. It intensified with each passing day. I began to limp. Doctors said that steroids provoked osteonecrosis. In other words, due to insufficient blood supply to the bone cells die, leading to pain and limitation of joint function. In March 2013 I had an operation. Surgeons managed to restore my hip, but the next six months, I walked on crutches.
Silly, but then again I thought I was okay, and went back to old habits: a chaotic eating, no exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. Since the cancer did not kill me, do not, "McDonald's" can?
I put on weight because it is absolutely not watching what I eat and drink. I missed dyhalki even two flights of stairs. In fact, I thoughtlessly squandered given me a second chance in science. After all that has gone through, I continued reckless attitude towards your body. Although it would have to immediately think about how important it is to take care of yourself if you want to stay a little longer with the people I love, and do what he likes.
I felt ashamed. For help I turned to... iPhone.
So every day to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I need to literally see progress and have a system of incentives. Therefore, numerous Applications- "controllers" in the App Store became the perfect motivator.
It was in June 2014. Apple at WWDC just unveiled a platform HealthKit. It collects information about the human condition from which we can, and most importantly, in iOS 8 promised to release a standalone application Health. Explore the possibility of HealthKit, I obzavolsya necessary equipment and applications:
- I bought a bracelet Fitbit (And then Jawbone UP), Electronic scales Withings Smart Body Analyzer.
- Tested a few months calorie counters MyFitnessPal and Lifesum.
- downloaded FitStar and a dozen applications.
Over the past nine months, I have changed my way of life, making emphasis on health: healthy eating and healthy physical activity and healthy sleep.
Walking and Health
The first step to health have become daily walks (pardon the pun). I recommend their therapist: after surgery should be a couple of years not to load the hip - it is better not to run, and regular walking.
In 2013, together with the iPhone 5S Apple introduced the M7 coprocessor. In the sixth iPhone M7 motion coprocessor turned into M8, I began to collect data from multiple sources and analyze it more intelligently. For example, there was a digital barometer, knowing when people are talking, and when climbing stairs.
My daily intake of steps was first 5000 and then 7000. At first, I worked on the treadmill, but I decided to do more work breaks and get out of the house: to walk with his beloved on the market, walk the dog, and so on.
I also went to a small, but effective trick: park the car farther away from home, do not use the elevator.
I like to think of the steps on the iPhone, because these data can be used by other applications. And this, in turn, makes it possible to visualize the progress differently.
after the release of iOS 8.0.2 Apple has corrected a serious bug: in the first release, developers can not publish to the App Store application HealthKit support. After "work on the bugs» HealthKit earned the right. So I switched to HealthAnd began to look for third-party applications that support HealthKit.
The main reason for this decision was the fact that I was fed up with the user synchronization between fitness devices and apps and fragmented data exchange between them. Before HealthKit bust in counting your steps or repetition of the burned calories were common, if not carefully monitor the performance. It took weeks of manual adjustments to the information from the Jawbone UP is distributed correctly on the application and should not be duplicated anywhere else.
In the updated Health user less opportunity to control the process of exchange of information between applications. But I like it. I am sure that these do not get confused, and everywhere available.
I also went to the Health, because I plan to buy Apple Watch. Due to Health, which already have a database with my performance and habits, I can easily use the "apple" of the clock.
Pedometer function well demonstrates Health and its ability to integrate with HealthKit on iOS 8. The application interface is implemented in the form of tabs, but I was primarily interested in the panel indicators suggesting a breakdown by category, and the "health card» (Health Data), where the individual categories are stored and recording.
Each section in the Health can be set up to demonstrate the daily, weekly, monthly or yearly progress. According to the weekly schedule is easy to see what day I walked a little, and when enough. In daily basis we can determine the average number of steps per day, compared with yesterday's today's result, and so on. In addition, as I said, in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have the opportunity to count steps during ascent or descent of stairs. When I do not use the elevator, these data also fall into Health.
In the tool bar, you can select the card you are interested in and apply to it one of the four temporal filters. The cards have different colors - easy to determine what was going on at a glance. So, I already know that the card with the consumption of caffeine - green, dream card - blue.
Calculation and visualization of steps - a demonstration of the work done at Apple, to show the possibility of stuffed sensors iPhone and benefits of storing data in a central repository.
I'm a visual, I need to see progress. Apple is building a system without being tied to a single application. Therefore, for the visualization of the results in the walking I use a pedometer pedometer ++. It displays a different color every day, using ayfonovskogo processor M8 data. It also determines how you move: whether you go behind the wheel, run, crouch, or climb the stairs (in the iPhone 6).
Today Steps - another app I currently testing. I think it would look great on the Apple Watch - color schemes on a black background. I think, Today Steps can be a good alternative Pedometer ++.
Walking - a manifesto which returned to my freedom. Walking is so natural to man. But the enormity of this know only when deprive yourself of this opportunity.
Counting steps means a lot to me. Because every day when I open the Health and see "tear" or run Pedometer ++ and I see the red column, I ask myself whether the day is wasted?
Smartphone keeps me in good shape, "Hey, get up, it's time to go!". From a technological point of view, Apple Health and other applications that I use, reliable and helpful. From a conceptual point of view, they are reminiscent of the bounce free.
training
I was not limited to walking - decided to exercise every day to destroy a sedentary lifestyle, maintain muscle tone, keep the posture, stretching and keep activity.
The App Store hundreds of fitness applications. I stopped at FitStarBy purchasing an annual subscription. I never liked going to the gym or buy equipment for a home.
I prefer the good old workout with swing press, squats and push-ups under the supervision of a trainer. I do not have the money to hire someone who would one day come to my house and watched my studies.
But FitStar - excellent digital equivalent. He helped me lose almost 12 kilos, correct posture, flexibility restore my operated leg and generally feel better.
FitStar offers four training programs to choose from. My favorite - Daily Dose and Get Lean. The first consists of a series of 10-15 minute sessions in addition to the active lifestyle and Get Lean focuses on fat burning and weight relief. There is also a freestyle session, which can be used as a bonus to the daily load, or just when you want to try something new. These lessons are usually directed at a specific group of muscles: the back, chest, legs and so on.
Once you have chosen a training program, the screen will show a brief description of the first session, its duration, content and number of calories that you destroy. In the upper right corner - your picture on it, you can click to see how much is left before the end of the session.
Video - this is what FitStar different from other fitness apps. They are well made, available in SD- and HD-quality, and they are professional athletes show how to do the exercises. (Those who like to engage in front of the TV can output video via AirPlay on the Apple TV.)
In most movies - American football star Tony Gonzalez (Tony Gonzalez). He is a master of his craft, perfectly explains everything. Tony and the other coaches know when during a training burn my feet or when I start to shake surge. This creates a sense of presence as if the coach really is next.
User manipulation during classes in FitStar kept to a minimum, but it is completely correlated with the application concept. At any time, you can touch the screen to pause or, on the contrary, to resume training. This is good, especially when the session is too hard for you. At the end of each exercise, you need to confirm an acceptable number of sets, "just right," "too easy" or "too hard." When the training session is passed, you get a report number and type of exercise performed, how many calories burned and so on. Gradually FitStar will examine you and will adapt the workout to fit your experience, physical condition and other parameters.
For those who, like me, never went to the gym and not in any way involved in sports, iPhone may be a good personal trainer. History of workouts and progress statistics allow me to not only feel better, but also to see the results in their daily lives.
My arms and shoulders became strong legs - resistant and not clamped. I became more tough: even after the 30-minute workout when your heart beats wildly, I feel a surge of strength.
FitStar, integrated with the Health, strongly influenced me. He helped me to form a totally different approach to life, with an eye on the health, discipline and respect for your body. Objectively, this is simply an application with the API. But subjectively - that is what has made my existence meaningful.
Food
Hearty Italian cuisine, snacks in the glossy packs and refreshing soda - a temptation, to which it is difficult to resist, and that I am fighting still. I love to eat and love to cook. To change their eating habits and to diversify the daily menu was a real challenge for me.
When I started researching food trackers, I decided that people who keep track of each bought and eaten a product crazy.
It seemed to me that only a semi-finished food can be controlled, which they bought in a supermarket, where the composition is written on the packaging. I had no idea how to "digitize" excellent pasta alla carbonara.
Reluctantly, I began to keep track of the diet. Nine months later, it became a habit. I now believe that food trackers are not intended to count the exact number of daily calories consumed. Especially if you buy fresh food and cook homemade food. However, 100 grams of pasta - it is 100 grams of pasta. Should not seek to completely accurate power metering system, but it is necessary to control the diet to improve it.
Judicious use of a food diary allows me to make better decisions: whether there is a pasta for dinner, if you are already eating pasta at lunch, or better to limit fruit salad.
I did their menus more balanced added more greens, fresh produce, reduced the number of chips, snacks and other junk food.
But most importantly, with the transition to healthy eating the sense of taste and digestion, affected due to chemotherapy, have stabilized.
After months of testing different applications, I stopped at the Lifesum. It has been developed in Europe and the free basic version. Lifesum compatible with Health, integrates with scales Withings Smart Body Analyze, there is a version for the iPad.
Lifesum diet divides into four stages: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. You can scan product barcodes using the iPhone's camera and upload them to the blog. We have a database Lifesum: Scanned barcode and, as a rule, you get the exact product description. If it does not match, you can substitute a similar product on.
In Lifesum perfect interaction with users. By clicking on "+" to add another record, you will be presented with a list of recent products. And to add a search result in your diary, you can make a swipe without even opening description. This allows you to quickly cope even with a lot of ingredients.
Also, you can specify yourself grammovku portions you do not want to agree to the proposed service standard. Europeans hard to measure tablespoons or ounces, simply specify the number of grams.
On the page of a particular product Lifesum displays information about its caloric content and nutritional value. I learned to understand where a lot of calories, and where there is little. But more often I use the charts of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, which demonstrate whether I eat this or that product or it should be replaced with something.
Similar charts are displayed in the diary of the main menu. In the upper part shows the number of calories that you can still afford, on the basis of the daily value (I standard diet - 1200 kcal), and the remaining amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. After each reception food Lifesum tells me if I kept within the specified range of calories. If I eat a little or, on the contrary, too much, the application warns me: "Look out!". Without a food diary, I would have easily forgotten that ate last week, and have no idea about their diet.
Thus, Lifesum not the most intelligent and comprehensive application, but it will be an excellent starting point for those who want to change their power system.
In addition, I began to keep track of the consumption of caffeine. I love espresso, but the stomach and the heart weakened from chemotherapy.
Before I put the cancer, when I was obsessed with work and do not follow their habits, I could drink at least eight cups of coffee a day. Now I try to drink three or four a day, and only after a meal.
To visualize this end use applications UP Coffee from Jawbone. It simply and efficiently integrates with Health. Every time I drink coffee, I open the app and add a new note. And thanks HealthKit conducted caffeine consumption log. This allows me to keep track of the days when I drank too much flavored drink.
Lifesum, UP Coffee and Health on iOS 8 - a huge help in my quest to follow a healthy diet and for many years to keep the stomach, heart and liver in good condition. They allow you to analyze and adjust the diet to try new foods and stick to the course "more vegetables and fruits."
Sleep
Recently, I also started to monitor sleep and wakefulness. It helps me in this application Pillow. Reason - Integration with HealthKit.
During the past six years, the quality of my sleep has been declining.
As said before, I was obsessed with work. For a long time I thought that I can reduce the duration of sleep to five hours, and the rest of the time devoted to work. Looking back, I realize that this is one of the biggest mistakes.
Sleep is essential to health. Now I try to sleep at least seven hours a day and I feel much better. I realized that my old regime was not conducive to productivity. The more sleep, more energy to perform tasks.
The Pillow I like the magazine sleep and wakefulness that I have accumulated, and which demonstrates progress towards a seven-hour sleep and a release early.
At Pillow elegant design. Every night before going to bed, I put the iPhone alarm clock and put a pillow under the screen down. Pillow, in turn, controls my movements and stages of sleep (non-REM sleep, REM sleep), as well as record sound if it detects noise. Moreover, this application can help to fall asleep with music or nature sounds. It soothes and creates a cozy atmosphere.
When I wake up, Pillow inquires about my mood, and then shows a graph of the sleep structure with the possibility to listen to the recorded audio fragments. It's usually funny snoring, wheezing, talking in his sleep, a dog barking outside the window. To be honest, I do not know yet what to do with this schedule. But I like the generalized statistics, which gives the application.
In addition, Pillow can read about the dream of Health and match them with the categories. This is the coolest feature in the application, it spurs further control mode. Too early to say with absolute certainty, but I found that the more you sleep, the less there is a temptation throughout the day. As a result - better food, consume fewer calories because they do not constantly pulling something to eat. You can also make a schedule of steps and calories burned together with the quality of sleep schedule and see that most of the activity - the key to better sleep and less stress.
New life
Cancer changed me. It's not just about chemotherapy and not even that, defeating oncology, you live with its consequences and should be ready for anything. Cancer taught me to appreciate the beauty of life.
See the magic in a simple dinner with a friend. Regarded the work as an opportunity to inspire people and be helpful to them. Loving parents cherish every moment spent with them, because one day they will not. Listening to people and respect them, because no matter how we differ in our views, only empathy makes us human.
My experience has allowed me to understand that my time is limited. I began to lead a more healthy lifestyle, so as not to miss the time given to me.
Can you tell that I'm naive romantic (I really lost cynical), but the iPhone for me more than just a thing that I enrich buying Apple. With the iPhone I can monitor and improve your lifestyle. The ecosystem of applications, services and devices able to monitor my diet, weight, fitness activity and sleep, using the iPhone as a personal hub. On it all assembled and visualized in a single application - Health, but it can already be connected to other programs. For me as a person who has survived cancer and who stood in the way of a healthy lifestyle, it's unbelievable.
I do see the result. I have almost reached your ideal weight, my physical therapist happy tone my muscles, and MRI shows healing of the operated hip. I've never felt healthier than it is now. It is hard to imagine that three years ago I was in the hospital.
iPhone will not let me forget about the undertaken obligations and demonstrates measurable progress. All this has brought into my life awareness. I immensely appreciate to be back in shape and do what had never done before. I am convinced that we can improve our lives through technology. And no matter how much time I have available, I will enjoy the journey called life.