Free Emergency Medical ID Wallet Card

[MsJacquiiC]

We as post-op WLSers should ideally have a medical alert identifier, either a bracelet, pendant or other form that, if in an emergency, a provider will be able to recognize and use to aid in your care. I've yet to get mine yet - but I will soon. Just wanted to share something a fellow WLSer from my surgeons Yahoo Group shared the other day:

Here is a link to a site for a neat free med ID card Free (ICE) In Case of Emergency Medical Alert Wallet Card Print out two of them – go to Office Depot and for around a dollar get them laminated and put one with your driver’s license and the other in the glove box of your car We all need these – they are very handy

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What you should list on your medical ID alert card or jewelry:

1. Type of Surgery: Gastric By-Pass, Adjustable Gastric Band, Sleeve Gastrectomy or Duodenal Switch
   
2. No Naso-Gastric Tubes: if put in blindly, which is how they are normally placed, it can puncture your pouch. If needed the tube will need to be placed under fluoroscopy with a radiologist for proper placement.
   
3. No NSAIDS: these are prostaglandin inhibitors which can increase ulcer formation. In very extreme cases we may allow a patient to take them with additional medications to protect the stomach.
   
4. Drug Allergies
   
5. Other Vital Medical Information

Duodenal Switch Also known as Bilio-Pancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch or the DS, the Duodenal Switch is a weight loss surgery that alters the gastrointestinal tract with two approaches: a restrictive process and the malabsorptive process. See WLS Videos for animated surgery technique.

Gastric Banding Surgery The adjustable gastric banding is a restrictive surgical procedure during which a silicone band is placed around the stomach, creating a small pouch. The band includes a balloon that is filled with a nontoxic fluid, most commonly a saline solution; periodic adjustments are performed by a healthcare professional who accesses the balloon via a subcutaneous port. Gastric band placement, unlike malabsorptive weight loss surgery (e.g. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, Biliopancreatic Diversion, and Duodenal Switch), does not cut or remove any part of the digestive system. See WLS Videos for animated surgery technique.

Fluoroscopy Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique commonly used by physicians to obtain real-time moving images of the internal organs of a patient through the use of a fluoroscope. In its simplest form, a fluoroscope consists of an x-ray source and fluorescent screen between which a patient is placed. However, modern fluoroscopes couple the screen to an x-ray image intensifier and CCD video camera allowing the images to be played and recorded on a monitor.

Pouch Most bariatric surgeries restricts the amount of food a patient can eat by reducing the size of the stomach by gastric banding, stapling or removal. What results is known as the gastric pouch.