A Smart APProach to Cancer

Last year I presented A Smart APProach to Cancer during the inaugural Ignite Carroll event, showcasing apps that I used during my treatment. As a supplement to my presentation, I wanted to share an expanded list of useful apps for cancer care and beyond. Whether you are a caregiver or patient, apps are a perfect tool for managing your medical information and personal well-being.

Organization and Management
	Chemo Calendar	Use this app during chemotherapy treatments to track blood cell counts, symptoms and medications. Chemo Calendar captures and organizes all your information and tracks your symptoms. Reports can be emailed directly to your doctor.	Free iPhone only
	My Medical	A comprehensive record keeping app for yourself or family members. You can track as many health records as you need in a single purchase. Use as a digital file cabinet to store lab work, x-rays and important documents. This app will remind you of doctor’s appointments, prescription dosage and upcoming lab tests.	$3.99 iPhone/ $1.99 Android
	MedHelper Pro	Useful app for tracking prescriptions. Set alarms to remind you when medications need to be taken, and receive notifications of upcoming doctor appointments and prescription refills.	$3.99 iPhone/Android
	Evernote	This easy to use app helps you remember everything! Evernote is a cloud based service that stores documents, notes, health records and to do lists. Scan items (using your phone’s camera), import PDFs, store receipts and record audio during doctor visits. Items are searchable and organized by notebooks and tags. Evernote syncs across multiple devices (PC, tablet, phone), allowing quick access to important information anytime, anyplace.	Free iPhone/Android Premium service available $5.00/month
	Hello Doctor	A simple and secure app, that helps people manage their medical records. Allows you to easily aggregate your paper and digital medical records on your mobile device, and add notes when meeting with your doctor.	Free iPhone/iPad only
	WorldCard Mobile	Scanning application that uses OCR (text recognition) to instantly transfer information from business cards to your phone’s contacts. With a click of your  phone's camera, you no longer have to manually input contact information from business cards.	$2.99 iPhone only Free trial available
Note: Your insurance and medical flex spending companies are likely to have apps to assist you with managing co-pays, claims and reimbursements. You can use your phone to quickly receive reimbursements for medical expenses by taking pictures of receipts and then electronically submitting information to your FSA.
Relaxation and Wellness
	Music Therapy: Oncology	Therapeutic music playlist designed specifically for patients in an oncology setting to help you relax during treatment.	$2.99/month iPhone only Free trial available
	Songza	A music streaming service that offers a playlist based on your selected activity or time of day. Select the relaxation playlist during treatment days.	Free iPhone/Android
	Relax Melodies: Sleep Zen Sounds	Select soothing sounds and melodies to help you relax during treatments or fall asleep. Includes timers and alarms if needed.	Free for basic iPhone/Android $2.99 for upgrade
	Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite	Do you have difficulty relaxing on your own? Let clinical hypnotherapist, Andrew Johnson help ease your tension by narrating you through a series of relaxation techniques.	Free for basic iPhone/Android $2.99 for upgrade
Health and Fitness
	Fooducate	Do you know what you are really eating? Scan or manually search food and drink items to reveal a nutritional grade from A to D. Fooducate’s grading scale is based on an algorithm using the ingredients list. The grading system is developed by scientists and dietitians. Includes an "alternatives" item list to help you shop healthier!	Free for basic use. iPhone/Android $9.99 lifetime subscription available
	Waterlogged	Drinking water is critical to good health, but especially important during chemotherapy treatments. This app tracks your water intake in fun visual way.	Free for basic use.  iPhone only
	MyFitnessPal	The fastest and easiest calorie counter! Includes the largest food database and convenient barcode scanning input. MyFitnessPal also includes an exercise tracker to monitor the amount of calories worked off through the day. Connect with friends option.	Free iPhone/Android
	RunKeeper	Track your runs, walks, bike rides and more using the GPS in your phone. Provides encouragement and coaching during your exercise. Listen to music, capture photos and post your activities and achievements with others.	Free for basic use iPhone/Android Various upgrades available from $9.99-$19.99

  Tips for finding apps:  

• Search for apps in a browser rather than in the App Store/Google Play 
• Try Quixey: a search engine designed specifically for apps
• Review the Ratings and Reviews- a good way to find better apps is to sort by the ratings given by customers. Remember to look at both the rating and how many times the app has been rated.
• Review the Version History- this indicates how consistently the developer does updates to improve the app (look for current updates).

Valentine's Gifts for your Geeky Gal

With all the attention on the snowfall this month, it's seems Valentine's Day is quietly sneaking up on us! With just a few days to go, I thought I would share my selection of gifts for the tech savvy woman in your life. These geeky gifts are sure to last longer than a bouquet of roses or box of chocolates!

Fitbit Flex

A functional accessory for your Valentine! Now available in violet, pink and lime, the Fitbit Flex is a stylish activity tracker. This colorful wristband tracks steps, monitors sleep patterns, and provides daily motivation for an active lifestyle. Activity reports are synched instantly to your smartphone or a web browser. The Fitbit Flex allows your Valentine to stay stylish with interchange color bands and a new Tory Burch collection coming soon!

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EverPurse

The EverPurse will ensure you can always stay in touch with your Valentine. These fashionable purses contain a charging pocket to keep phones powered throughout the day. The purse itself charges on an inductive charging mat. Many colors and styles available.

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olloclip

Capture moments with your Valentine using this fun iPhone accessory. Olloclip lenses are small enough to fit in your pocket, but provide big results when clipped to an iPhone. Olloclip offers telephoto + circular polarizing and 4-in-1 lens options to help you capture extraordinary photos with your phone.

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Bluetooth Shower Speaker

Set the stage for a romantic evening with a warm bath, candles and some music! Compatible with any Bluetooth enabled device, this waterproof speaker provides all playback controls (forward/back/pause/play), accepts Siri commands and allows you to answer calls (or not) using the built in microphone. The suction cup backing makes set up easy. Available in a variety of colors to match your decor.

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USB Cassette Mix Tape

Cassettes may be a thing of the past, but the novelty of creating a mix tape for your loved one is still just as meaningful as it was in the 80's. Simply drag and drop songs from your music library to instantly create a unique music compilation for your Valentine. Retro case included!

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Instant Poetry App

The most meaningful gift is expressing your love through a letter or poem. If you lack creativity, the Instant Poetry app is the perfect tool to help you find the right words. Choose the "love" theme and then arrange the randomly displayed words to form a verse. Add a custom background and share your poem with your loved one through email or social media.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Appy Travels: Engaging Apps For Family Road Trips

Thanks to the generous donations of friends and family, we were able to spend last week in Florida to celebrate the completion of my cancer treatments. Due to cost, we opted to drive. Traveling with 2 teenagers and an energetic 9 year old for 13 hours was challenging.  But I must admit I love road trips--I enjoy exploring, admiring architectural elements, visiting unique landmarks, but most importantly I value the opportunity it creates to bond with my kids.

Realistically, my vision of a family road trip is not the same as my children. They would prefer to spend the entire trip plugged into their electronic devices.  Knowing this, I planned ahead and loaded my iPhone with several travel apps to test out during our journey. After using the apps, I was surprised to discover 2 things:

1. The apps that scored big with my family were merely electronic versions of the classic car games I enjoyed as a child.  
2. Using apps actually increased our interaction--we worked together to search for items, complete activities or locate landmarks.

Below are 6 of the free travel apps we enjoyed the most, consider using a few for your next trip:

Field Trip app

Field Trip: If it was up to my husband we would stop and read every historical marker we passed during our travels. Thankfully, Field Trip brings the information to my phone instantly as we approach a site. Select the type of items that interest you, including historical sites, architecture, dining or museums and Field Trip will push a notification card listing nearby attractions based on your selections. Discover hidden destinations and brush up on your history along the way.

License Plate Game app

License Plate Game: Track the state plates you find during your trip. This app provides an image of each state plate and marks the location as you find them. You can upload images of non-standard issue plates to add to the challenge. Everyone was engaged with this app, in fact my kids continued to hunt for plates outside of the car.

Marathon Car Bingo app

Car Bingo: There are several versions of car bingo available in the app store, we enjoyed the Marathon Travel Games version the best. You will search for random items such as signs, vehicles, animals, bridges in order to complete bingo. You can play as a family to complete one board or play individually by downloading the app on multiple phones. Warning: this becomes very competitive after a few rounds!

Mad Libs app

 Mad Libs: The classic word replacement game for your phone. This is a great way to include everyone in the car and share some laughs. The free version includes 21 different stories. Words can be typed manually or entered by voice recognition. The app also includes options for saving and sharing upon completion.

RoadAhead app

RoadAhead Highway Exit Finder: Working with your car's GPS to find the nearest rest area, restaurant or gas station can be cumbersome. This app utilizes your phone's built in GPS to pinpoint your location and presents merchants organized by upcoming exits. You can easily filter the results by category, including gas stations, parks, restaurants, grocery, and more.  Our kids enjoyed using the app to locate their favorite restaurants and plan our pit stops.  We found the gas station price list and user ratings very helpful too.

InstaPlace app

InstaPlace:  Create postcard-like greetings quickly with this fun photo tool. InstaPlace is a location based app that places an overlay over your photo to display your current location, date or other custom text. The image can be saved to the camera roll or shared instantly with your family and friends through popular social networking sites. This is a fun and unique way to document your trip. If you like this app, be sure to check out the Instafood and InstaWeather.


Appy travels everyone!