Medical id for gastric reduction with duodenal switch" or "sleeve gastrectomy with duodenal...

Hi All,
Are there any medical alert bracelets out there that you would recommend?
What information should be included?  Where do you get them?

Thanks,
Art

mine just says that i'm a duodenal switch patient, that i have abnormal intestinal anatomy, am allergic to latex, and the name and number of my surgeon on the back.  the front has my name, DOB, and my emergency contact numbers.  i got it through american medical ID, but there are lots of companies out there.  shop aorund for the best deal on the style and metal you want or need.  i needed steel because of where i work, plus its just more durable.

:)

 Hey Art,

Forgive me, I'm gonna do a little repost here.

As a guy, I don't like wearing bracelets.  So, I wear a black MedicAlert dog tag.  If an emergency responder calls the number on my tag they are provided with a full list of the medications and suppliments I am taking; any medical conditions I have that are not on the tag; they can provide a fax number for the treating doctor and MedicAlert will fax my surgical report, latest bloodwork, and any other records I give them; and my PCP, surgeon, and family will be called and notified of my condition and location.  Plus, I can update this information using MedicAlert's website.

Here's what the back of mine looks like (I removed my ID # for privacy):



Hope that helps,
Justin

i COULD be wrong, but I thought "caution with N/G tube" was a RnY only thing? Since we have a normal stomach and no hidden stomach part, whdy would DSers need the caution with N/G saying?

Karen
We also need the "No Blind intubation" - due to our surgery

 

 

Ok, I wasn't aware of that. Someone said a while back that as a DSer that we did not need a bracelet because things (stomach and pylorus) functions normally.

 Hiya Karen,

My understanding is more in-line with Jeanne's.

You are correct, RNY'ers have a similar warning: "No blind NG tube."  I chose not to use that tag because I don't want an emergency responder to fail to give me an NG tube if I need one - although I understand that if they think you need one... your get'in one.  Instead, I wanted them to be aware that I had a modified gastric anatomy and that they should use caution when placing an NG tube.

Why all this hub-bub about the NG tube?  Well, as I understand it, it has little to do with the function of our stomachs/sleeves, and more to do with the size of them and on an RNY patient has nothing to do with their "hidden stomach."  In an emergency situation, an NG tube is measured on the outside of the body and fed, without a scope, up the nose and down into the person's stomach.  To prevent damage to the stomach, the feeding stops the moment evacuation of the stomach's fluids begins.  Well, with RNY'ers, and DS'ers like me who have small sleeves, there is a greater risk of rupturing the pouch/sleeve wall.  Although, I believe the danger is greater for an RNY patient.

I do not consider my stomach to be "normal."  It's a couple ounces large and has a permanent staple line going down the side of it.  It may function like a stomach, but the structure has been modified in such a way that, for me,  the heightened risk warranted putting the warning there.  Many DSers choose not to place anything about NG tubes on their tags.  Even more choose not to wear a medical alert device at all.  To each her own.

Thank you for your detailed response. If you saw, I am a revision, or will be eventually. I did have a medicalert bracelet as I also had, besides, RnY, allergic to penicillin, and have diabetes. My bracelet broke and bad me never got it fixed or a new one. So to sum up, I will always be allergic to pencillin so I guess I will have a bracelet and, of course, hopefully, leave out the diabetes part, and I suppose I will use the "caution with N/G tube".

see?  Art spelled gastrectomy correctly in his subject line!

  thank yew, thank yewww


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