All of us with a PID (Primary Immune Deficiency) or any other debilitating medical condition are trying like crazy to stay as healthy as we can and hopefully work our way toward getting healthier. I would say “There’s an app for that!” but I’m not so sure there is. The major difficulty in trying to chart our fitness/health progress, as i see it, is that for us, it is so variable. Sometimes we inch our way forward. Sometimes it seems we can progress by comparative leaps and bounds. And, well, sometimes those differences can be on back to back days.
And sometimes, of course, it’s all we can do to get out of bed. After a day and a half of infusions, I often sleep for the better part of two days. And for me, at that particular point in time, that is me working to stay healthy. And what app understands that? The automatic “steps/milage/flights of stairs climbed” tracker that came with my phone shows that Sunday I walked a total of about 800 steps. That was two days after my infusions. Monday it shows I walked about 3,500 steps. I felt better by Monday. Not my best day by any means, but a quite remarkable amount of steps for me, 3 days out from my infusions.
Why am I even bothering with trying to find a fitness app, or trying to keep track of my steps? Because if I have a goal I’m working toward, no matter how small, I’m much more likely to push myself just a little harder. If it’s 8:00 PM and I’m only 62 steps away from meeting my goal for the day, I will gladly walk around the house in circles in order to get in those last 62 steps.
But how exactly do I set realistic goals on fitness apps – even the one that my insurance provider gives to me free? Don’t get me wrong: I’m not comparing myself to the people out there who are healthy and for whom fitness is just a way of life (as it used to be for me). I’m just comparing me to myself on similar days. For me to have walked 3,500 steps on Monday, three days after my infusions is a big deal. But it still doesn’t reach my own software stated goal. And yes, of course I already know that just one or two days after infusions I won’t even come close to reaching my goal. But it’s discouraging to see the puny progress on Sunday’s graph when I know that 800 steps was an accomplishment, all things considered.
And I’m not even counting the days or weeks or months in which I am battling active infections because, well, at those times I don’t even look at my graphs. At that point I fingure I’m doing a bang up job just making it from one day to another without too much complaining.
I know that on many Health or Fitness apps I can go in and adjust my goals. But that would take effort on days I don’t have much effort to muster, and I would also feel a little stupid doing it. As in, “What’s wrong with this lady that she can’t even make up her mind what her goals are?” And yes, I do make comments on my pedometer tracked walks as to how I’m feeling health-wise. But what I need is an app that has the ability to have a moveable target, depending on how many days out from infusions I am.
So – does anyone have a suggestion? Guidance? Words of wisdom? If so, please, please share.
Because at the moment, I really don’t think there is an app for that. At least not one that I’ve been able to find.
Zebra's Child 