Utilizing Wearable Technology for Cancer Treatment

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Technology plays a big role in managing our health, especially during tough times like cancer treatment. Health-tracking devices and apps provide precise data about our bodies, helping us make informed decisions and stay motivated. My personal journey with stage IV rectal cancer is a testament to how wearable devices, wearable technology, and other smart devices can be powerful allies.

From tracking my sleep patterns and activity levels to monitoring my heart rate and blood pressure, these tools have helped me manage my health better and stay on top of my treatment plan.

Discovering the Diagnosis and Initial Treatment

In May 2020, I started experiencing significant weight loss, loss of appetite, low energy levels, and bloody stools. These symptoms were alarming, and after a colonoscopy, I discovered I had a 6 cm malignant tumor in my rectum. An abdominal ultrasound the next day revealed my liver was covered in tumors.

I was diagnosed with stage IV rectal cancer, which had spread to my liver, with a CEA level of over 2000. The oncologist quickly put together a treatment plan involving aggressive chemotherapy to combat this advanced cancer.

Challenges Faced During Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy come with several challenges. Here are some detailed points on the difficulties faced:

Nausea and Vomiting: The chemotherapy sessions made me extremely nauseous. I often felt like I couldn't keep anything down, and vomiting became a regular occurrence.

Loss of Appetite and Taste Changes: Foods I once enjoyed now made me nauseous just by their smell. My appetite disappeared, and everything tasted different and unpleasant even when I forced myself to eat.

Weakness and Fatigue: Chemotherapy left me feeling extremely weak and tired. I barely had the energy to get out of bed, let alone engage in physical activity.

Hair Loss: Losing my hair was one of the most visible side effects. This was hard to deal with emotionally, as it was a constant reminder of my illness.

Anemia and Heavy Bleeding: Due to heavy bleeding caused by the rectal tumor, my hemoglobin levels dropped, leading to anemia. This made me even weaker and necessitated additional treatments.

Pain and Discomfort: Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy caused significant pain and discomfort. The rectal tumor caused heavy bleeding, requiring a combination of chemotherapy and radiation to manage.

Turning to Technology for Health Tracking

Wearable technology includes smart glasses, VR headsets, hearing aids, and other electronics. Fortunately, it has extended to healthcare through activity trackers that monitor a user's body and vital signs. Other wearables include electronic devices that monitor glucose levels and other health-related elements through sensors and navigation systems.

Other devices can do more than track various health metrics, provide notifications, and perform various functions to assist users with their daily activities and overall health management. These devices, such as an Apple watch, have special sensors that accurately detect physical activity and provide health-related data, making them valuable tools for personal health and fitness.

After several rounds of chemotherapy and facing severe side effects, I realized that I needed to take a more active role in managing my health. Conventional treatments were essential, but I wanted to do more to support my body through this ordeal. This encouraged me to explore health-tracking wearable technology to better understand how my body responded to treatment and find ways to improve my overall well-being.

Factors That Motivated the Shift Towards Using Health-Tracking Technology

Severe Side Effects: Chemotherapy caused significant nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite, making it difficult to maintain my health.

Weight Management: Maintaining weight was required for ongoing treatment, and I needed a way to monitor my progress accurately.

Fatigue and Weakness: I was constantly tired and weak, which made me want to track my energy levels and find ways to boost them.

Curiosity: I wanted to understand more about my body's response to treatment and how I could make improvements.

Support: My wife and family encouraged me to look into all possible ways to manage my health better.

Research Process and Sources of Information on Health-Tracking Devices and Apps

I watched YouTube videos from health enthusiasts, scientists, and biohackers who shared their experiences with various wearable devices. I read numerous reviews on websites and forums to understand the pros and cons of different health-tracking wearable devices. I also consulted research papers and articles on PubMed to learn about the effectiveness of these technologies in health monitoring.

Health blogs on websites like Verywell Health provided practical insights and personal stories that resonated with my situation. Additionally, I sought advice from friends and family who had used similar technologies for their health.

First Steps with Health-Tracking Technology

Starting with health-tracking wearable technology was a significant step in my journey. It helped me gain better control over my health and provided valuable insights into my body’s response to cancer treatment.

The First Health-Tracking Wearable Devices and Apps Used and Initial Reactions

The first consumer electronics I dabbled with include the following:

Oura Ring: My first device was the Oura Ring, which tracked my sleep, activity, and readiness. It provided detailed data on my heart rate, sleep quality, and overall activity levels.

Blood Pressure Monitor: This helped me keep track of my blood pressure, which was crucial due to the cardiotoxicity risk associated with cancer treatment.

Ketone Meter: Monitoring my ketone levels twice daily helped keep my insulin levels steady.

Initially, I was fascinated by the detailed information these wearable devices provided. Seeing the collected data on my sleep patterns, heart rate, and activity levels was empowering. This immediate feedback pushed me to make the necessary lifestyle adjustments.

Combining Technology with Ongoing Conventional Treatments

While using these health-tracking wearable technologies, I continued with my conventional treatments. The combination of traditional and modern approaches provided a comprehensive view of my health.

Chemotherapy: Despite the pain and side effects, I adhered strictly to my chemotherapy schedule. The data from my wearable devices helped me manage the side effects better.

Diet and Exercise: Using the data collected, I adjusted my diet to include more nutritious foods and implemented a regular exercise routine. This was essential in maintaining my weight and strength.

Monitoring Vital Signs: The wearable devices allowed me to monitor my vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure, ensuring they remained within safe limits.

The integration of health-tracking wearable technology with conventional treatments created a balanced approach. It allowed me to stay informed about my health status in real time and make proactive adjustments to my treatment and lifestyle.

Key Health-Tracking Technologies Used

I used several health-tracking wearable devices to support my treatment plan. These are:

Oura Ring

The Oura Ring is a smart ring that tracks various health metrics, providing insights into sleep patterns, heart rate variability (HRV), and overall readiness. It’s a small, lightweight device worn on the finger, and it uses sensors to collect data on your body’s vital signs.

Benefits of Using the Oura Ring

Sleep Data: Tracks REM, deep sleep, and light sleep cycles, helping improve sleep quality.

HRV Monitoring: Provides insights into heart rate variability, which can indicate stress levels and overall health.

Cardiovascular Age: Helps monitor cardiovascular health, crucial for cancer patients.

Readiness Data: Indicates how ready your body is to handle stress and physical activity each day.

Activity Tracking: Monitors physical activity levels, helping to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Temperature Monitoring: Tracks body temperature trends, which can indicate changes in health status.

Sleep data helped me understand and improve my sleep quality, which is crucial for recovery, while monitoring HRV gave insights into my stress levels and recovery status. Tracking my cardiovascular age helped me manage the risk of cardiotoxicity from treatments, and readiness data guided me on how much physical activity I could handle each day without overexertion.

Infrared Machine

An infrared machine uses infrared light to penetrate the skin and improve various bodily functions. It is often used for its potential benefits in repairing or enhancing mitochondrial function, reducing inflammation, and increasing melatonin production.

Benefits of Using an Infrared Machine

Mitochondrial Function: Enhances energy production at the cellular level.

Inflammation Reduction: This helps reduce inflammation, which is beneficial during cancer treatment.

Melatonin Increase: Boosts melatonin production, improving sleep quality and overall well-being.

Pain Relief: Reduces pain and discomfort, making daily life more manageable.

Improved Circulation: Enhances blood flow, which supports healing and recovery.

Skin Health: Promotes healthier skin by improving cellular function.

Using the infrared machine, I noticed increased energy and reduced fatigue. It also helped manage inflammation caused by treatments and improved my sleep quality due to increased melatonin production.

Apollo Wearable

The Apollo Wearable device is like a smart watch that uses gentle vibrations to improve sleep, recovery, and stress levels. It can be worn on the wrist or ankle and is designed to help the body adapt to stress. It plays a significant role in improving sleep by promoting deeper, more restful sleep, enhancing recovery after physical activity, and reducing stress and anxiety levels.

The Apollo Wearable played a significant role in managing my health during cancer treatment. By using it regularly, I noticed substantial improvements in my sleep patterns, which were crucial for recovery. The gentle vibrations helped me relax and reduce anxiety, making it easier to cope with the stress of treatments. Additionally, it aided in faster recovery after exercise, allowing me to maintain a regular fitness routine.

Blood Pressure Monitor

A blood pressure monitor is essential for tracking blood pressure, especially for cancer patients at risk of treatment-related cardiotoxicity.

Importance of Tracking Blood Pressure

Cardiotoxicity Risk: Monitoring blood pressure helps manage the risk of heart damage from cancer treatments.

Health Monitoring: Keeps track of overall cardiovascular health.

Early Detection: Identifies any early signs of hypertension, allowing for timely intervention.

Medication Management: Helps assess the effectiveness of any blood pressure medications.

Stress Indicator: Blood pressure readings can indicate stress levels, which is helpful for overall health management.

I used a blood pressure monitor every morning to check my readings. This routine helped me stay aware of any fluctuations and take necessary actions to keep my blood pressure within a healthy range. Tracking this data provided insights into how my body was responding to treatments and allowed me to make adjustments as needed.

Ketone Meter

A ketone meter measures the level of ketones in the blood, which is important for ensuring steady insulin levels and managing diet effectively. Some of its numerous benefits include helping to keep insulin levels low and stable, assisting in maintaining a low-carb diet, and supporting better metabolic health by monitoring ketone production. This practice ensures that the body effectively uses fat for energy, which can improve overall energy levels, and provides valuable insights into how different foods affect ketone levels and overall health.

Using a ketone meter twice a day, I could monitor my ketone levels and ensure that my insulin remained steady. This was particularly important as I shifted to a low-carb diet. The data collected helped me adjust my food intake and maintain optimal health conditions during treatment.

Temperature Control Tea Kettle

A temperature control tea kettle allows precise temperature control for making tea, ensuring the best possible health benefits from the beverage. The role of the temperature control tea kettle is essential for healthy hydration, ensuring that tea is brewed at the optimal temperature for maximum health benefits. It maintains a consistent hydration routine, preserves the nutrients and antioxidants in tea, enhances the flavor and enjoyment of the beverage, and provides convenience and precision in preparing various types of tea.

Using a temperature-controlled tea kettle helped me maintain a healthy hydration routine. I used it to brew green tea, which I drank daily. Controlling the temperature ensured I could get the most out of my tea, contributing to my overall health and well-being. Consistently drinking tea helped me stay hydrated and provided additional antioxidants that supported my recovery.

Integrating Wearable Technology with Traditional Treatments

Integrating health-tracking wearable technology with traditional cancer treatments can enhance the management of the disease. This combination provides a comprehensive approach to care, offering real-time data that can help make informed decisions and improve communication with healthcare providers.

Enhancing Communication with Healthcare Providers

Using wearable technology to communicate with healthcare providers and share health data has been crucial to my treatment journey. Health-tracking wearable devices like the Oura Ring and blood pressure monitors collect valuable data, which I shared with my medical team. This allowed my doctors to monitor my condition more closely and make necessary adjustments to my treatment plan.

For instance, you can use mobile devices to sync data from various wearable technology and send reports directly to my oncologist. This continuous flow of information helped my healthcare providers stay updated on my health status without requiring frequent in-person visits.

Benefits and challenges of integrating wearable technology with traditional medical care:

Benefits

Real-Time Monitoring: Allows for continuous health monitoring, enabling timely interventions.

Better Informed: Provides doctors with comprehensive data to make informed decisions.

Enhanced Communication: Facilitates better communication between patients and healthcare providers.

Patient Engagement: Encourages patients to participate actively in their health management.

Personalized Care: Helps tailor treatments based on individual health data.

Challenges

Data Overload: Managing and interpreting large amounts of data can be overwhelming.

Technical Issues: Problems with device connectivity or app functionality.

Privacy Concerns: Ensuring that health data is securely shared and stored.

Integration with Medical Records: Difficulty in integrating data from various wearable devices into existing medical systems.

Cost: Expense of purchasing and maintaining health-tracking wearable devices.

Making Informed Decisions

Health-tracking data has been instrumental in helping me make informed decisions about my treatment and lifestyle.

Discovering I Have an Arrhythmia/Atrioventricular Block

For instance, wearable devices aided in the diagnosis of my Atrioventricular block. I failed to realize that my body was too weak due to chemotherapy, and I did HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) to make my mitochondria healthier. After a few days, my heart began to feel uncomfortable, and my heartbeat dropped continuously during sleep. I only had about 30 beats, and I felt short of breath and weak during the day.

I showed the doctor my heartbeat information on the day of routine treatment. He decided on the spot that I should stay in the hospital and undergo a 24-hour Holter monitor. The result showed an Atrioventricular block, and the doctor arranged for me to be hospitalized for three more days to receive high-dose steroid injections. He informed me that if I was not careful, it might cause sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Experiencing the Symptoms of Duodenal Ulcer

Another instance was when my Oura ring kept showing a message (Symptom Radar) telling me to get more rest. At first, I thought it was due to excessive exercise or poor sleep. Fast forward, I began to feel dizzy, and my stool turned black. I was shocked to realize that something was wrong. After a gastroscopy, it was found that the duodenal ulcer was bleeding, causing anemia and malnutrition.

High Blood Sugar/Insulin Response

Finally, there was a time when my routine treatment was changed to a new drug. After receiving this new drug, I found that my ketone value dropped significantly, and my blood sugar increased significantly. This also meant that my insulin also increased rapidly, even though I was taking a low-carb diet. This phenomenon is not good for cancer patients.

After research, I found that the side effects of this new drug can cause blood sugar to rise. Because of this experience (one of the reasons), I started the habit of fasting every time I received treatment, and it was confirmed by a ketone meter that as long as I am fasting, my blood sugar and ketone bodies will not fluctuate violently after treatment.

Lessons Learned and Advice for Others

Key Lessons and Insights Gained from Using Wearable Technology

Stay Consistent: Regular use of health-tracking wearable devices provides the most accurate and valuable data.

Share Data with Doctors: Keeping your healthcare team informed with data from smartphones and wearable devices can help them tailor your treatment.

Be Open to Adjustments: Use the data to make necessary lifestyle changes to support your treatment.

Understand the Limits: Recognize that wearable technology is a tool to complement, not replace, professional medical advice.

Stay Informed: Educate yourself about wearable devices and how to interpret the data they provide.

Advice for Others Considering the Use of Health-Tracking Technology

Using health-tracking wearable technology during cancer treatment can be highly beneficial, but it's essential to approach it thoughtfully. Start by selecting reliable devices that suit your specific needs. Integrate these tools into your daily routine to gather consistent data from your mobile devices. Share your findings with your healthcare providers to enhance your treatment plan.

Remember, the goal is to use the data to support your well-being, so be open to making lifestyle adjustments based on what you learn. Finally, stay informed about the latest advancements in health-tracking technology to make the most of these tools.

The Impact of Health-Tracking Technology on Cancer Treatment

Incorporating health-tracking wearable technology into cancer treatment plays a crucial role in managing the disease effectively. Devices like the Oura Ring, infrared machine, Apollo Wearable, blood pressure monitor, and ketone meter provide real-time data that helps monitor vital signs, improve communication with healthcare providers, and make informed decisions about treatment and lifestyle adjustments.

Personally, these wearable technologies have empowered me to take a proactive approach to my health, offering valuable insights and support throughout my journey with stage IV rectal cancer. As technology continues to evolve, it promises to further enhance patient care and outcomes in the fight against cancer.

References

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Using Technology to Track Health During Cancer Treatment

Discovering the Diagnosis and Initial Treatment

Challenges Faced During Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy

Turning to Technology for Health Tracking

Factors That Motivated the Shift Towards Using Health-Tracking Technology

Research Process and Sources of Information on Health-Tracking Devices and Apps