APAD Day 32 Fall Detection on Smart Watches

Does it work?

I’m not sure. For Christmas this year, my Dad purchased my mother and I a Samsung Galaxy 4 Smart Watch with fall detection. While the watch won’t prevent either one of us from falling, maybe it will work to let someone know that we might need assistance? To be honest, I am afraid to “test” it. I don’t want to fall! It hurts!

I have smacked my arm against a wall trying to imitate a trip with no result. During my last round of Physical Therapy, my therapist tried to set off the fall detection by “pretend” falling with no results. I’ve been exploring Samsung’s website to see if I need to adjust my settings somehow, but haven’t found any new answers. It does specifically state HARD FALLS. With my luck, I’m sure I will have the “opportunity” to test it again. 😦 I’ve also watched a couple of youtube videos of people testing various watches only to find that most of the watches respond maybe 50% of the time.

Things I didn’t know I needed?

So far the watch does not work like I had hoped it would. BUT, I am kind of excited about some of the other features that it comes with.

1. I have used the FIND MY PHONE app the most! (The phone has a FIND MY WATCH option too)
2. The watch face is customizable. I have mine set to show me the date and time, the weather, number of steps taken in the day, and how much battery life I have left.
3. I can make, answer, and ignore calls and texts using the watch.
4. I am learning to use the camera control on the watch to take pictures of my dogs, and grandkids (without it being completely obvious that I am taking their pictures.)

Always room for improvement

1. The watch needs it’s own charger. ( you will not be able to use the same one for your phone)
2. The watch band is not user friendly. I am sure that I could buy a new one, but that’s just more $$$

What do you think?

Do you have a Smart Watch? Do you like it? Why or why not?

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Living with Interstim 3 months post op

Back in August of this year, I had the Interstim bladder stimulator placement surgery. In September, I wrote about my journey with Bladder Incontinence in a post called, Being a Human Guinea Pig. A few days later, I wrote a sarcastic, yet honest post about what I was going through mentally after having the surgery. At the end of that post, How did your Interstim implant surgery go, I said that the device was already in my body, so I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt. I have, and I would like to share.

Did the Interstim Device “fix” me?

NO

Did it help reduce my symptoms more than 50%?

Absolutely!

Do I regret having the procedure?

No

Would I recommend the Interstim device to someone suffering from Incontinence?

…

…

Honestly, I don’t know. ( Not very helpful am I?)

Maybe this will help

On a day to day basis, I don’t even realize that I have the implant anymore. By this I mean, I don’t really notice it unless I am looking for it. I don’t feel any pain at the incision site while I am sitting, driving, walking, bending over, etc. I use a leg press machine for physical therapy and have not had any issues with that amount of pressure against my back side either. I have to admit that I do miss the “ass pats” (spankings?) that Einstein used to loving provide, but to be honest we are both a little nervous about that experiment.

I did not die in the MRI

I was very anxious about having my quarterly MRI last month, (another story for another time) but after finding a location that had the equipment and experience to perform MRI’s on patients with implanted devices, my anxiety about my body being ripped apart while in the tube has been relieved. As a bonus, the pictures from the MRI model that they have to use are 1000x better than any of my previous 100 scans!!!

Going through Airport Security with an implant

I am pleased to report that I also did not die while going through airport security at O’hare or Denver airports. (I did this two times just to be sure.) Medtronic supplies you with a card stating that you have an implanted device and can not go through the metal or magnetic detector. You can also always ask to have a pat down from TSA, but I had no trouble standing in the usual “stand still here and put your arms above your head” scanner.

Other horrible things that did not happen

The above list had me terrified, but to date I have done the following and have had no issues:

1. Driven a car without turning it off
2. Operated power tools including a drill and a saw while standing on an aluminum ladder
3. I carry my cell phone in my back pocket (over the device) for 90% of my waking hours
4. Operated all household appliances including the washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, vacuum cleaner, freezer, computer, television, security system etc
5. I have been to the dentist with my 2 year old grandsons, not as a patient

What HAS happened after having the device implanted?

Most of the time, I am able to hold 400-500 ccs of urine before leaking. (pre interstim and without Botox surgery, the number was closer to 150 ccs) I still have to use a catheter to empty my bladder completely, but am actually able to “pee a little” on my own (if that’s a thing). *Drinking Alcohol changes those numbers. Beer seems to run right through me. The carbonated or hard selzer drinks ( Vizzy, white claw, corona) seem to move a little slower, but still increase frequency and decrease retention.

The only other change

I have to “recharge” the device once a week.

As you can see, the recharger is about the size of my hand. Also in the picture is an elastic belt that you can put the charger in to wear while you are moving around. The Medtronic website shows a woman gardening while wearing her belt. Yay her! (This doesn’t work for me.) I have found that I have the best results and shortest charging time, if I sit at the computer, put the device under my underwear and don’t move for a half hour or so. For some reason, when I am re-charging, my right foot (the one that has that all the titanium in it gets very warm)

While uncomfortable, its not incredibly painful. Maybe it’s a coincidence? Maybe that is where the nerve that is being stimulated ends? I’m not sure. I could also turn down the charging speed, but it takes twice as long to charge and sitting still IS difficult for me.

If you are reading this because you or someone you care about it considering getting the Interstim, I wish you the best of luck. Only you can decide if it’s right for you. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

FREE SOS feature on your phone

Recently, I had to start doing research on devices that would allow the user to activate a panic or sos button that would notify friends or family that they needed assistance.  While I still have not found the exact device to suit my needs, I did stumble across some very useful information about a FREE feature included on ALL cell phones  regardless of model or provider, without having to download an app or pay for a service.

If you are interested in hearing more, please keep reading!!!

Let me start by telling you what this feature does, or how it works after you do an initial setup and then I will post screenshots on how I set it up on my phone.

Once you have completed the initial setup, if you need to send an SOS message, you simply click your power button 3 times quickly.  Doing so,  enables the front and back cameras on your phone to take a picture.  It also makes a 5 second audio recording, and sends all of this information including your GPS coordinates to a pre-selected contact.

Too good to be true?  I thought so too.  So of course I had to test it out numerous times to try to find a flaw.  I’m happy to say that I couldn’t find any.

Each time I tested this, either myself or my contact received the message within 30 seconds.  The camera does not use the flash, so their is no indication to an outside party that you have clicked an alert.  The GPS coordinates were accurate to within 200 feet.

The steps I used to set this up on my phone are as follows:

1. Go under your settings tab
2. scroll down to privacy and emergency
3. turn on send sos messages
4. select a contact
5. on the final screen you have the option to attach pictures and/or audio

From what I can tell, this feature is available on all makes of phones regardless of your service provider.  While each person I have talked to about this, has been able to set this up on their phone, FOR FREE, the steps were slightly different than the ones I used.  If you are interested, Google… ” how to set up sos messaging on your phone”.

Let me know if you tried this, and any opinions or concerns you might have that I might not have thought of.  I am very curious to know if it also works in other countries besides the US.

JUST JUMP making the switch

Most people would consider jumping out of that airplane the scariest thing they ever did,  I found it exhilarating, freeing if you will.  The jump I am talking about today though is the jump from wordpress.com to self-hosted.  I have read so much about it, and watched so many videos that my eyes are glassy.  I am confused, nervous, and well just a bundle of emotions, but I am doing it.  HOPEFULLY it will be a smooth transition, but I am not holding my breath.

Wish me luck? Hopefully I will see you all soon!

Go Big or Go Home?

Last week I posted that in one day I had received 370k comments in my spam folder in the a 24 hour period.  Things have slowed down a little bit, this morning I have 564K. SMDH!!!!!

When I contacted wp support, they suggested that I activate the comments option that makes name and email required.  Ok did that.

I also added almost 100 individual ip addresses to the block list

I have added all the repeating words that I found in the posts (ty SDC for the tip)

I have blocked anyone using an email from outlook (as that was a huge portion of addresses)

I went through the 1.8k comments that I have approved in the past and removed any from an anonymous user as was suggested by another blogger.  (thank you Ralph)

Tom and Tanya both suggested bot blockers and upping my spam control.  Whatever version on wp I am using only allows me to use askiment, and it says it have blocked another 300k in spam.

I switched back to all comments needing to go through moderation ( sorry for this guys), but after my phone going off ever 2 minutes with notifications for an hour, I have now removed WP from my phone.  Which means I will be checking it less frequently.

I want to apologize in advance if I miss something you have commented on, I am deleting spam in bulk, and although I do scan it first, there are literally thousands of comments.

The only other thing  I can think to try is switching to self hosted.  I have heard of sites like godaddy, siteground, bluehost.  Would anyone mind sharing what host you use?  I need a site that will “hold my hand” so to speak .  Thank you in advance!