Med Alert Bracelets

Have you gotton yours? At our local support group meetings it was mentioned how important it is to have a medic alert bracelet post op. I bought one today for 3.99 at a drug store, and I took it to a Hallmark gift Card shop in our local mall where they engraved it for me for about $15.00. I then went to Hobby Lobby and bought some wire, beads, charms and fasteners (around $18.00) I am going to design and make my own med alert bracelet with. I will post a pic when it is finished. I hope to work on it tomorrow, but I got some silver beads, silver heart charms in different styles and sizes, and silver filler beads along with some smaller differed colored glass beads. The good news is I can make more jewlery in different designs with the beads and make my bracelet interchangable, so my $18.00 bead/jewlery making supply investment will not go to waste. I had mine engraved with: my name Gastric Bypass Pt. NO NGT/NSAIDS I dropped it off around 2pm and picked it up at 5pm so it was much better than having to mail it off to be engraved. Sandy

Sandy, What a Wonderful idea. I bet almost no one thought of this and it is so important. Let me know how yours works out and maybe I can pay you to make me one. I am not talented. How are you doing otherwise. How much have you lost and what are you eating at this point. Hugs to you. Cathy D

Hi Cathy! Im not all that talented...LOL..Im going to give it a shot, if you like it, I will see what I can do. Im doing pretty good. Going back to work on Tuesday, I am pretty much eating what I want as long as it is soft, easy to chew and digest and tolerating pretty well. As of last night I had lost 25 pounds. I think it should be more but Im not complaining. How are you doing? Sandy

Hi, One week out of surgery -- this is the first I'm hearing about a medical alert bracelet -- do I need one or something like it? What does NO NGT/NSAIDS mean? Marla

Hi Marla YES! Every gastric bypass patient NEEDS a medical ID bracelet. You now have a pouch, not a tummy. The first thing any emergency room will do if you are in an accident or unconscious is to stick a NGT down your nose. You cant rely on family or friends to be there to tell anyone if you cant tell them yourself. Doing that now, they can rupture the pouch and you could bleed to death. This is why it is important to have the medical ID bracelet! NSAIDS are anti inflammatory drugs like Advil, Aleve, Motrin, Mobic, Bextra, Vioxx, Celebrex etc. mainly arthritis type meds. They can cause ulcers in the pouch, and my surgeon absolutely says NO NSAIDS whatsoever. Im hoping I can have some glucosamine chondrotin for my arthritis but we will see what he says about that. If your a diabetic, it is a good idea to have DIABETIC engraved on the bracelet too or any other serious condition like hemophillia, hypoglycemic, etc...Hope this helps. Sandy Sandy

Hi Sandy Thanks so much for this information. I will make sure I get one quickly. I mentioned it to my friend today, who is a doctor, and she agreed I should have one. Regards, Marla

Sandy, What great advice and one I agree with wholeheartedly! I had my mom (who had RYN over a year and a half ago) coach me on what I should do after surgery. She suggested Lauren's Hope website for the Medic Alert bracelets. A little pricey...but they had decent styles to choose from and did engraving for a nominal fee. After ordering by phone, I got my bracelet 2 days later. Lauren's hope website is at: http://www.laurenshope.com D D