Smartwatch use during cancer treatment

[22May2024]

My sister has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. We’re in complete shock.

I’d like to buy her a Samsung smartwatch if it will be helpful during her treatment. My main concern is a couple of years ago she had a terrible reaction to an antibiotic she was taking and ended up in ICU. She lives far from reliable medical care so this was very scary. I hoped a smartwatch might help her detect early reactions to drugs she might be prescribed.

Please share your stories - good and bad - about whether or how smartwatches are a useful tool during cancer treatment.

I had one already. I don’t think it’s been particularly useful to be honest, it does maybe encourage me to be more active. Often health monitoring stuff can increase anxiety.

The best gift I had was a lovely soft warm scarf, but that was in cold weather. The best thing people could do for me was to visit and take me places for walks and a cuppa and company. Everyone is different though.

I hope your sister gets excellent care x

i'm not sure if it would apply in this case

But isn't there a test you can take to see which medications will cause a bad reaction? I'm sorry I can't link, but I think it's BUPA who do it.

She’s not in the UK

I had to stop wearing my smartwatch during chemo. I spent a lot of time hospitalised and was having constant blood tests/infusions etc so it was just in the way. Infection was also a huge concern so I was constantly washing my hands and worried about bacteria getting under the strap.

Mine didn't measure anything that would have been helpful medically but they may have moved on now since it was a few years ago. I don't really understand how they would detect a reaction to a drug though?

Overall I'd say that although it's a nice thought, it's not something that's likely to be helpful. If she's only just been diagnosed give it some time before rushing to buy anything.

Living far from reliable care is a concern, if she can't have anyone actually with her definitely think about checking on her as often as possible.

Let this be a choice she makes. I do have a smart watch. It has been helpful. It’s encouraged me to stay more active that I probably would have otherwise been. Being active is particularly important for my type of cancer treatment.

I did also have a situation when I started feeling unwell and noticed my HR was tracking about 10 bpm higher than normal over several days. I became even more ill over the next few weeks and eventually ended up in hospital because the treatment had eaten my pituitary gland and now I have adrenal insufficiency (fatal if not treated). It was the HR pattern that first made me realise something wasn’t right.

BUT having cancer is a hugely anxiety provoking experience. I would not buy her a gift that’s going to potentially trigger her to worry about all the data and what it means. I think it’s a very personal purchase and it has to be something she wants and chooses. One more thing to stress about is the last thing she needs. Also short of HR, it’s not going to tell her anything about drug reactions. She’ll be given detailed information about what side effects to look out for and when to ring the hospital. She won’t need a smart watch for that.

Maybe say you’d like to buy her one and ask if she actually wants one. Or simply send her an Amazon gift card. It may be what she really needs now is something else. I simply appreciated people checking on me, making plans for coffee, dropping off brownies. Not doing the ‘let me know if you need anything’ dance, which just feels really patronising. Someone to talk to is probably what she needs more than a smart watch.

The thing I appreciated the most was a neighbour came and left a box of brownies at the door and messaged me after she left. No expectation to come in, no need to host, just brownies. I also pulled out a lovely warm blanket that a family member gifted me for Christmas years ago that I’d hardly used until now, but the hospital and treatment wards are often cold. I take it with me every time I go to hospital. I am a cold water swimmer and my warm swim robe has also been a godsend. I wear that to hospital too. And at home!

This will definitely be a choice she makes, which is why I’m checking before I suggest it if it might be worth it. She will ask why I think it might be helpful. I will not impose or lead her in any way.

The only ‘health’ advice she’s had from her surgeon so far is to exercise. He’s insistent on it. Apart from that he’s told her to live her life normally. (This is very early days so I’m sure more advice will come). So I thought a smartwatch might help keep her motivated.

On the adverse reactions: heart rate changes, blood oxygen, some even have an ECG feature. She is terrible at reacting quickly to symptoms, which is why she ended up in ICU the last time. She nearly died so I am particularly worried about this aspect of her character now. I hoped data might objectively tell her she must react. She refused to listen to any of us.

I do get that it could create health anxiety though.

If I buy one I have to do so soon because I’m flying out to join her for a few weeks. They can’t be bought where she is.

Is she in an area where they do the test - a lot of countries are more advanced than we are with health stuff

I wish her all the best for treatment.

I don’t know yet. It’s one of the questions I want to ask when we meet her oncologist.

Health wise I am some family members find a smart watch helpful for medication adherence (when it needs to be taken at several times a day at set times), and also my niece has used the SOS function a few times when she has collapsed and needed help in an emergency. Her watch sets off a fall alarm and calls an emergency contact. My SIL and my sons gf have (different) health issues which cause their hearts to race and they use their smart watch for logging any events.

Not sure if those would be helpful during chemo.