There's An App For That*

There is never going to be a great time to have UC or CD. However, sufferers today have a lot going for us: strides are being made all the time to further understand the biological, environmental, microbial, genetic, and nutritional factors at work. In addition to the thousands of specialists and volunteers who are working tirelessly on our behalf, we also have a modern phenomenon in our corner: the App. Short for "application", apps are a seemingly ubiquitous part of our lives. There are tens of thousands already in existence: designed to enhance our mobile lives by providing easier access to our favourite websites and games. For the purposes of this blog**, I will focus on several of the medical apps that I have been testing out over the last few months. 

"Can't Wait" 

Concept: As I have mentioned in previous posts, the "Can't Wait" app was produced through the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada. Like many other applications, it works in connection with your phone's GPS and pinpoints where the user is located. Once this has been established, all public bathrooms near your location are identified using the "Gutsy" mascot encircled in either green or red. Green circles indicate that the bathroom is currently open and available (based on the hours of operation of the building it's situated in, etc); red circles indicate the the bathroom in question is currently closed or otherwise unavailable.  

Reality: The app is actually pretty fantastic. It has been correct every time I have used it and it has allowed me to more confidently venture out into the world. It also has the added functionality to add user-specific locations to the program if they are not already identified on the GPS screens. One drawback is that the further away from major population centres you venture, the less the bathrooms are listed. If you are in Toronto, Ottawa or London it is not a problem; but less dense populations seem to also signal less-developed bathroom icons.

Vote: Worth it. 

GI Monitor

Concept: This app is designed to help Colitis and Crohn's patients shift their monitoring into the modern age. It allows for users to track everything from bowel movements and daily symptoms, to food diaries and current medications. In the description to the app, the creator argues that this will help usher in a new age of communication with your healthcare team. With simple clicks of a button, you can send your doctor or healthcare support worker a synthesis of your symptoms on a daily or weekly basis. Additionally, the app allows for monthly trending, allowing for the user to more accurately identify whether their disease is really in remission or actually headed toward a full blown flare-up, etc. 

Reality: I enjoy the functionality of the app. It allows me to simultaneously identify and articulate symptoms and put them into context by tying them to my Colitis. I do think that the designers may have been a little ambitious in their pitch regarding the communication opportunities provided: your doctor would have to be part of the same Wellness Group that designs the app in order to receive the updates of your medical data. Also, some of the functionality is frustrating to use. For example, under the medication section you can only enter each medication once. This completely ignores the reality that many UC/CD patients are put on drugs of various strengths, in various forms, at different stages of their disease throughout their lifetime. In the app, you can only select the dosage, timing and form of medication (infusion, PO, injection, IV, liquid, sublingually, etc) once.

Vote: Definitely has room for improvement, but overall I find it is a step in the right direction. Also, there is something about clicking on bowel movement icons that somehow makes it simultaneously more and less gruesome. Winning!*** 

CD Diary

Concept: I find this app to be both straightforward and useful. It allows for IBD patients (it is not necessarily restricted to Crohn's sufferers) to complete a daily on-line journal on the current state of their health. You can record notes on diet and portion sizes, highlight foods that produced significant reactions (either adverse or beneficial), record the meds taken and whether or not they have had any effect. 

Reality: It is not far off from the concept. Essentially, it provides an electronic platform, with pre-established topics and data fields, to record details that can be instrumental in communicating with your healthcare team. Some people may find the 'ol pen and paper just as effective and not inhibited by the dual plagues of sausage fingers and auto-correct,**** but I personally like being able to jot down thoughts related to pre-determined topics.   

Vote: Worth it, especially if you're a techy. 

Where to Wee

Concept: Identifies the location of bathrooms related to your location on GPS. 

Hopefully these can be avoided. 

Reality: Performs as advertised. Unlike the CCFC app, however, it does not indicate whether or not the bathrooms in question are open or closed. Much easier to navigate in familiar geographic areas where you will have a better sense of the buildings the bathrooms are located in and whether or not they are likely to be available. 

Vote: It's free, so I personally don't think it costs anything (except internal device memory) to have it as a back-up. All told, I do prefer the CCFC-sponsored app. 

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* I am biased: I-phone. I-phone. I-phone! Down with the Blackberry! 

** Otherwise I would tell you all about "Plants vs. Zombies" and why you must have it. 
*** See Charlie Sheen section of the FML page.     

**** Sausage Fingers can be understood as the phenomenon of fingers being larger than the minuscule keys that said fingers are attempting to utilize to make words. Iphone keys are notoriously difficult to navigate because they are not raised or individualized. Rather, they operate on a touch screen that makes it very easy to mis-type. Auto-correct turns words that the operating system is unfamiliar with (for example: bitchitis) and turns it into a word it understands (for example: birch tree). This then changes the meaning of your entire message as well as nonsensically making the operator look like a spaz.