A friend of mine has a little conversational quip whenever we’re stumped; when we don’t know who won yesterday’s football game, what the name was of that guy in the movie we just saw, or where the best place is to grab coffee in Midtown, he’ll say: “If only we had some sort of device that acts like a computer, small enough to fit in our pockets, with advanced search technologies. Wouldn’t that be neat?”

In a world where we have grown accustomed to having quite literally everything at our fingertips, the last and probably most important area that has been lacking is health and medicine. Sure, we have diet and exercise apps, calorie counters and WebMD. But what if we were able to have an app exclusively dedicated to helping manage a condition, disease, doctor’s info, and health records? An app that presents you with current up-to-date news topics and innovations in that field, hospitals, gyms, and local resources plotted out on your smartphone’s GPS exactly where you are, a place to journal and store all your results, symptoms logs and flare-up entries, in order to have more meaningful, detailed visits with your doctor… what a dream that would be.

That app for MS has been realized with My MS Manager, thanks to Ringful Health and MSAA. The first version for the iPhone is already in-use. And now — the app is available to many more people on Android.

I was floored when MSAA told me about the app in our first meeting.  It’s genius!

For me, the app has changed how I live my life with MS. It means that I can live my life with MS.

As an active photographer, often traveling, my routine can so easily get lost in the shuffle. “What day is it?,” I’m often asking myself. Time-changes and inconsistency with sleep and diet can really throw anyone off, especially someone trying to manage multiple sclerosis.

Now that I have the app, I never skip a beat!

Medication is on-time and never forgotten. Catching up on MS advancements, news, and events in my city or globally while I’m sitting waiting for a train, bus or plane is easy. Finding a doctor, hospital, gym, or health food store or restaurant in a new city is as easy as it would be at home. My doctor’s visits are maximized and efficient, leaving us extra time to spend talking about things like how his kids are doing, or what he thinks about a new MS drug or diet approach.

The peace-of-mind that comes with carrying all my relevant MS information with me in my pocket, should I need it in an event or emergency, or just want to find a healthy place to eat while I’m traveling, helps me to free my mind, take a break from MS, and go about my day.

To download My MS Manager for your smartphone please visit www.mymsaa.org/mobile