Smart watches, like this Samsung Galaxy Watch3, have valuable safety features that can help you as you age. (Jennifer Bardsley)

Smart watches, like this Samsung Galaxy Watch3, have valuable safety features that can help you as you age. (Jennifer Bardsley)

Embracing new technology that gives security and independence

It’s important to adapt to wearing a smart watch, for example, while your brain is healthy enough to figure it out.

It’s been a while since I shared how my recovery has been after my episode of transient global amnesia on April 2, which sent me to the hospital and temporarily made me lose three months of memories for 24 hours.

April and the first half of May were rough. I recovered nearly all of my memories but I couldn’t multitask, I missed important emails and, worst of all, I developed a stutter. I felt like I was a balloon bopping along the sidewalk in the wind. But now I’m 100% better. My stutter is gone, and I’m back to my normal turbo-mode.

There is still a small risk that I could experience TGA again, so I purchased a smart watch that will call my husband if I take a hard fall. It also has an SOS feature that will send for help if I’m in trouble. Looking down at my wrist and seeing the date and time in gigantic font has been grounding. It was especially helpful in April when I was struggling.

I’m Generation X, but I know that lots of Baby Boomers read my column, and I’d like to encourage you to look into getting a smart watch yourself. They vary in features, but Apple and Samsung both make models that do important things, specifically the fall-detection alert and the SOS function.

If you are running and fall, it will call your spouse. If you are out for an early morning bike ride without your phone and feel chest pains, you can message for help. But unlike the dorky “I’ve fallen and can’t get up,” devices from decades past, these watches look cool.

Adapting to new technology like wearing a smart watch is important to do while your brain is healthy enough to figure out how to use it. I speak from experience on that one.

Right now in June, my watch is easy for me to use. But in April when my brain was recovering, it was tricky to understand. So don’t wait until it’s too late to embrace a new technology that could help you remain independent. Download it into your mental hard drive now, and familiarize yourself with every feature.

Still, I must confess that smart watches do have their downside. The other day I was at my exercise class, laying on my yoga mat during the last three minutes when everyone was meditating, and my watch showed an incoming text from my daughter: “When are you coming home?”

I panicked. She had never texted me in the middle of class before and I knew she was home alone. I rolled up my yoga mat, grabbed my things and flew to the car. “I’ll be right there,” I replied.

It wasn’t until I pulled into the driveway that I saw her next text. “Can we go thrift store shopping?” she asked.

Yup. My smart watch had turned me into a dummy. Deep breaths, Jenny, deep breaths.

Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @jenniferbardsleyauthor, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as Jennifer Bardsley Author. Email her at teachingmybabytoread@gmail.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.