Can I get a show of hands...

Donna R.
on 5/15/12 11:59 am - Ocala, FL

I am just wondering, Do any of you wear a medical alert bracelet for your gastric bypass? If so, did your doctor recommend it or someone else? If you don't wear one why not?

I appreciate everyones input! Thanks

Donna

Donna "Embrace the Journey"
AUGUST 18, 2010 "The First Day of the Rest (BEST) of my Life"

HW/SW/CW/GW - 380/362/178/1??

poet_kelly
on 5/15/12 12:00 pm - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I wear one. My doctor did not recommend it. I think I first got the idea here on OH and thought it made sense for me.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Donna R.
on 5/15/12 12:10 pm - Ocala, FL

RNY on 08/18/10

Just knowing that you wear on Kelly makes me feel better about wearing mine. I have heard different oopinions on this , but I too learned about this here on OH.

Donna "Embrace the Journey"
AUGUST 18, 2010 "The First Day of the Rest (BEST) of my Life"

HW/SW/CW/GW - 380/362/178/1??

poet_kelly
on 5/15/12 12:13 pm - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I'm so used to mine now that I don't even notice it. I just have it on all the time. When I had an MRI recently, they told me to take everything off, especially anything metal, and I undressed and put the scrubs they gave me on and as I was getting on to the table, the technician pointed to my bracelet and said "That's metal, right?" Oops! Glad she noticed it!

Kelly

mikerccie
on 5/15/12 12:10 pm

RNY on 02/28/12

I wear a pendant and have one on my keyring. My Dr. and NUT both recommended it.

Here's the scenario that I thought up that motivated me to do it:

Everyone at work knows I've had surgery and that I take a big pile of pills every day. Let's just say I pass out for some unknown reason and they call 911. I'm certain someone will say "he took a bunch of pills this morning". To me that screams the EMS or ER Dr. putting in an NG tube. If they do an NG tube the "normal" way they stand a chance of perferating my pouch.

I look at it as super cheap insurance.

Donna R.
on 5/15/12 12:26 pm - Ocala, FL

RNY on 08/18/10

This is exactly why I wear mine, I am do afraid of that NG tube.

Donna "Embrace the Journey"
AUGUST 18, 2010 "The First Day of the Rest (BEST) of my Life"

HW/SW/CW/GW - 380/362/178/1??

exohexoh
on 5/15/12 12:12 pm - West Chester, PA

RNY on 09/27/10

i don't have one. i keep saying i'm going to order one, and think about it, but never do. i honestly don't know that i would actually wear it anyway.

<3 jen <3

<3 starting weight: 252 <3 goal weight: 135 <3 current weight: 151 <3

RNY: 9/27/10 <3 Extended Tummy Tuck w/hip & thigh lipo: 6/6/13

oxfordcat
on 5/15/12 12:14 pm - NJ

I think it is a great idea. I just haven't done it yet.

"Something has changed within me. Something is not the same". Elphaba

Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version
on 5/15/12 12:25 pm - OH

RNY on 08/27/07

Many people order one and then only wear it for a little while (and some of them are not cheap!). I wore one for a couple of years because I have taken anticoagulents since 1979, and have a PCN allergy, but I got sick of wearing it. I ordered one after my RNY, wore it for a few months but then was talking to some of the people in the ER and they were talking about how unlikely it is that you would ever get a NG tube if you were unconscious and that normally they would not give penicillin as an antibiotic. (To be fair, though, they did chastise me for not wearing it since I take the blood thinner. If I came in unconscious after an auto accident and they were not aware of that, it could cost me my life. After I got scolded again in the ER in February (when I was in the ER because my anticoagulation was WAY too high and was bleeding from my sinus cavity), I ordered one that was prettier than my other two and have started wearing it PART of the time. The nurse in that ER also told me that them knowing about the PCN allergy and the RNY/NG tube were not crucial, but knowing about the blood thinner WAS.

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

poet_kelly
on 5/15/12 12:37 pm - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I once did have an NG tube placed when I was unconscious. That's one of the reasons I wear the bracelet. I think it is a situation I could potentially find myself in again, although I believe you when you say it's not very commonly done.

Perhaps part of the decision about whether or not to wear a bracelet depends on each person's personal medical history and maybe even their lifestyle. In an emergency, would you be likely to be taken to the ER alone or would someone that knows you and your medical history be likely to be with you? Are you likely to be taken to an ER that you've been to before, so they would have records on you and possibly already have some of the info they'd need? Do you have a condition that could easily render you unconscious (like a seizure disorder, maybe)? Of course any one of us could find ourselves in an accident and unable to speak, but some may be at higher risk of that than others.

Kelly