Having Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can feel like a part-time job – a really lousy part-time job. Like, worse than the one I had in high school where I was forced to wear itchy polyester pants and an I.D. tag with my name spelled wrong; a job where my boss regularly complained about my “subpar attitude” when I didn’t wanna do things like be there on time, or clean the store bathroom (that had never been cleaned), or confront the guy who tried to steal a steak by shoving it down his pants.
But you know what my boss never did? Judy never woke me up at 3 am, threatening to make me pee my pants. Sure, my feet were sore after a long shift at the check-out counter, but Judy never inflicted the kind of burning nerve pain that MS causes. Judy never followed me out the door and pushed me off the curb for no reason. Fine, she might have had a reason – maybe more than one – but she never actually did it, because Judy knew that would be assault. But somehow, when MS sends me flying for no good reason it’s a life lesson.
Unfortunately, I can’t quit MS the way I quit Judy (by passive-aggressively not enforcing the ’12 items or less’ rule until my name stopped showing up on the schedule – it’s ’12 items or fewer’, Judy). But there is a way I can feel a little more in charge of my disease, and less like my disease is the boss of me, and it’s all with the help of a brand new tool – Aby App.
Disclaimer: Aby App is paying me to share this with you, which I guess makes Aby the boss of me, but the joke’s on Aby, because, in case you couldn’t tell by my super-professional tone, all opinions are my own.
Aby App is a one-stop-shop where you can track your medications, your fatigue, your mobility, your mood, your sleep quality, stress and symptoms. You can even track your activities like shopping, or attending a social function; because, this app knows how much energy getting groceries and attending parties can take. High five!
I usually just tell my cat what I’m up to. Why do I need an app for that?
I’m sure your cat’s a genius, but even the smartest cats can’t help you understand your MS. Or maybe they can, but they just don’t want to. This app lets you generate reports (or as I like to think of them, performance reviews) of all the data you’ve entered, which you can then take to your doctor, or even send by email. These reports can provide a clearer picture of how MS is affecting you.
But wait! There’s more!
The app also provides free workout tutorials, and has lots of juicy articles like, “What to do when MS messes with your sex life”, and even some boring ones like, “Radiological Isolated Syndrome: An MS Precursor?”. It’s everything you want to know about MS, and even some stuff you don’t!
That’s a lot of features. How much is this gonna cost me?
Aby App is 100% free, because if you have MS, you deserve free stuff.
Tech is cool and all, but I miss the old days when you could talk to someone.
If you’re tired of talking to your cat, the app also has nurses available who will answer your MS questions. (By message, obvi. Everyone knows nobody uses their phones to make actual phone calls. Gross.)
This sounds good, but is this just a Canadian thing? Like bagged milk and ketchup chips?
Fun fact! Canada has one of the highest rates of MS per capita. Aby App offers stories and articles with a distinctly Canadian, maple syrup flavour, in both English and en français, but that doesn’t mean we’re keeping this app all to ourselves. In fact, while Aby App is new in Canada, it’s already available in the US. In France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Japan, it’s available under the name Cleo.
What gets measured gets managed and knowledge is power. As the boss of your own health you need to know exactly what’s going so you can see what’s working and fix what’s not. Aby App is an easy-to-use, thorough tool that will let you show your MS who’s the boss. To sign up in Canada click here.
While the content is geared specifically toward MS, I think you would find the tools helpful. The app is free, so I would recommend downloading and playing around with it. Let me know how you like it for fibro?
I’ve got to tell you, I installed it and shortly after, got a terrible sinus infection. I actually don’t get sick terribly often so when my MS went off the charts, I freaked. I messaged with one of the nurses and she told me that she ‘needed to look that up’ then promptly cut and pasted the standard blah blah from every website known about MS. Yeah, I already had searched all of those places and was well aware of the standard BS.
Hi Christy, I'm sorry to hear this. I actually wrote about colds and flu and MS here:https://www.trippingonair.com/2017/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-colds-and.html I don't know if that helps, and I certainly hope you're feeling better. I had a flu with a high fever in December and I freaked out too. I was told it could take months to get back to my baseline and to be patient with my recovery (easier said than done).
I'm in the US I searched in the Google Play store Aby app and came right up. Just waiting for it to install.
Awesome. Lemme know how you like it!
Best App EVER!! So much stuff all in one place! I love it!
Glad to hear you're liking it!
Would this work for fibromyalgia? I like a lot of the tools!
While the content is geared specifically toward MS, I think you would find the tools helpful. The app is free, so I would recommend downloading and playing around with it. Let me know how you like it for fibro?
I’ve got to tell you, I installed it and shortly after, got a terrible sinus infection. I actually don’t get sick terribly often so when my MS went off the charts, I freaked. I messaged with one of the nurses and she told me that she ‘needed to look that up’ then promptly cut and pasted the standard blah blah from every website known about MS. Yeah, I already had searched all of those places and was well aware of the standard BS.
Hi Christy, I'm sorry to hear this. I actually wrote about colds and flu and MS here:https://www.trippingonair.com/2017/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-colds-and.html
I don't know if that helps, and I certainly hope you're feeling better. I had a flu with a high fever in December and I freaked out too. I was told it could take months to get back to my baseline and to be patient with my recovery (easier said than done).
PS I have passed your feedback on to the app developer. Thanks for sharing.
Just downloaded the app..looks awesome ~Keep on keep’n on~??
Awesome. Lemme know what you think!