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Pain Management Journal

On 09/03/2010, in Development, Pain Management, Software, by Kevin
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I have noticed in my research this past month that more forms and sheets are being developed for a push that people with chronic pain conditions keep a journal.  In developing Pain Management Assistant, I have found that the issue isn’t as much how much data could be useful and tracked, but picking the right data to track that will give the biggest effect.

Picking the right set of data to track varies by patient and the type of pain issues they are fighting.  Neuropathic pain is quite different in management then say a Cancer pain.  Similarly fibromyalgia’s become a big issue in the last few years (though having been a problem for much longer media and drug companies have targeted more recently).

Seeing the majority of new modalities has had me rethinking the configuration and design of PMA.  Instead of one that provides a set static group of forms for tracking pain, to one that will allow you to configure which information sets are important for you to track.  As well we will build in configurations for form sets that are more likely to be of use to a specific pain modality.

 

Why PMA?

On 05/09/2010, in Pain Management, Software, by Kevin
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Pain Management Assistant (PMA) will be the next incarnation of the Pain Management Tracker program I developed originally.  Its intent is to be far greater and more useful then the first.  Pain isn’t managed by medicine alone.  In fact pain medicine is only one part of the puzzle which when working properly can help lower your pain by 30% if your lucky.  So what about the other 70%?

On my last visit to my pain management physician I was proud to tell them I had had the best month since the start of my ordeal.  In the previous almost 8 years, five of them post surgery (when my neuropathy was made permanent) I hadn’t had a month with my pain managed so well.

Now, two weeks later I am certainly feeling I spoke too soon.  Consistency or the lack is one of the difficulties in managing pain.  There are always good months and bad months, but the bigger question to me is why?  What’s different?  What changed?  Better so, what’s the best way I can show my doctor?

Pain Management Tracker tracks the pain levels to medicine ratios for you.  That program can be a tool to help you work with your physician to isolate what medicines are working, when they are working and how effectively.  Further, when a regimen changes how does it affect you overall.

In my case it looks like a new treatment that started over two months ago but which has been paused in the recent month is at least part of the issue here.  To prove the point tomorrow I will have more blood work done to see where the levels over various items are.

So if you are fighting similar battles with pain I invite you to download the free pain management tracking software and try using it yourself.  Let me know how it goes for you, if it helps, or if you can think of a way I can improve it.  Hopefully together we can all have a little less pain in our lives.

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Welcome 2nd Quarter 2010

On 04/19/2010, in Development, Pain Management, Software, by Kevin
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Of the many things I love about computers web site updates actually are one of them.  However when I put updates here I prefer it to be of some use and not just typical blog banter.  WordPress is just a far easier content management system for me then most.  I would actually love to hang out a new article of substance every week, but then I would be a writer more and a developer less.

I have decided to update the them to something that loads faster, is simpler, and more functional.  The previous theme though beautiful was high on resource requirement and provided no real additional value aside from aesthetics.  As there are more important issues to solve (such as managing pain) the site is going for simplistic and relevant.

Talking about software, I am excited about the upcoming release.  I have been adding the new dialogs for handling details for medicines, something the previous version did not handle.  It also has features for reminding you of when various medicines need to be taken and when.  Using the new details dialog you can mark out not only your dosages, times to take them including maximums per day.  You can also keep detailed notes on specific medicines. 

The new version also has some features meant to keep the data your tracking safer.  For instance you no longer delete medicines completely.  When you delete something it is more like being hidden from view so that all history information stays complete. Also, you can disable medicines and locations temporarily with a click of a mouse instead of the previous version which required you to adjust the name (by adding a – in front of it).

Finally, this last week I started working with graphing and charting libraries.  The first version of the software was meant to be a reminder and tracking tool since the amount of medications required for pain management can be daunting to keep track of. However this new version will include reporting which will help you see the results of your treatments and know what is working and what is not.

BETA testing should start at the end of June on time for end of 2nd quarter 2010.

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Automated User Interface Testing with Windows

On 12/20/2009, in C#, Development, Testing, by Kevin
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Not as easy as one would think really, and yet its one of the most valuable services we rely on as programmers.  When you can get a good testing team to help you pound on a feature before release and give you first class feedback it helps immensely.   Testers with an attention to detail that help your project along are your best friends.

When you release an update and fix a few bugs or add new features and do your limited testing only to find out that it broke something else from your test group; its disheartening.  With all their hard work they feel like two steps forward and one backwards and it challenges you the programmer even more.

One way to improve on this I have found is to use a good set of test scripts. Even with regular testers doing things manually, a good set of scripts I have learned is very important.  While working with RSmart Group on the Sakai project, the set of test scripts they had from their use cases, was a perfect step by step to make sure all items and fields were tested.

In a small programming shop where time is very valuable, is it worth the time to build an automated testing system?  I believe so when I consider the iterative use of the scripts once committed to a working test application.  Thanks to Microsoft’s Windows Automation Interface that is exactly what I focused on this week while polishing off my latest project.

I knew of the Accessibility and Automation library for some time.  However aside from a few lightly used projects such as White, or articles on Code Project, its not covered heavily outside of Microsoft.  White looks very promising, but the documentation is limited and the framework deep.  This would be excellent, and perhaps I am taking the road less travelled working on a custom version for our app, however White will sit in a directory near by for some time at least as a reference work.

Some of the better works I have seen as for introducing the technology are from MSDN Magazine and Dr. James McCaffery.  His first article was in February 2008 introducing the Automation UI, and the second more recently in March 2009 is really more of a follow up.  He covers a few new details about collections, but really it amounts to a rewrite of the first.

In my own experience, taking his example and developing my own proof of concept was the fastest introduction to the code.  With my primary daily time spent in C++ I don’t find C# difficult but switching back and forth is less optimal for me in efficiency.   However with the limit of example code available, what I found was more prevalent in C# then C++.

In closing for this note, if you have testing you will need to do consistently over time, then the time spent developing your own automation may well be worth the investment.  Other packages I saw on the market might help with a small percentage of the overall requirements, but in the end seem to lean back to coding of some sort with or without screen recorders.  If anyone has a preference, or experience on any of those packages, I would love to hear about actual experience.

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Once upon a time…

On 11/28/2009, in Uncategorized, by Kevin
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I used to love digging through Linux, playing in the command line, etc.  I still do when I have time.  However this last month this has not been it. 

Missing an update can be a terrible thing in this world today.  I remember watching my honeypot grab thousands of attacks an hour at times.  All for what?  nothing, not a single thing besides this blog or that of a family member.

Well the seasons almost over, the code is almost written and soon I will have more time for here (at least I might actually see what a weekend is).  Till then I press on – and this place is empty.

For those that link here for Pain Management Tracker, it will return by December 15th at the latest.  I would love to restore the backup now, but time is just something I don’t have much of at this moment.

KBC