DS Emergency Card - a must have!

Many of you already know about the DS emergency card on www.dsfacts.com

*Especially* for those going into surgery, who don't live in the same area as their surgeon, it is absolutely vital  that you make a copy of this card, which depicts the anatomy of your surgery, and provides for entry of your surgeon's contact number and other emergency contact.
Laminating at a self-serve copy shop (Kinko's, or what ever is in your area) is very inexpensive
The medical community at large does not have good knowledge of this procedure, and if you needed to go to an ER for an issue connected to your DS, they would not know what to do! 

I still carry mine, in event of emergency treatment of an unrelated abdominal injury.

It could save your life one day!

I'm  also going the extra mile, and having a Medic Alert bracelet engraved with the following:  Duodenal Switch - see wallet card.

I'm almost certainly going for a Medic Alert bracelet but didn't know what to put.  Your message sounds like a good idea (maybe with surgeon's name too if it'll fit).  I do however worry that purses can go missing, so the bracelet sounds great.

Actually, putting the surgeon's name on there is an even better idea!  Thanks!

 I have a laminated DS diagram card, and a medic  alert bracelet with" Duodenal Switch" and my name. Surgeons name, or office phone number is good too. When you are taken to the emergency room, the first thing they do is take off all your jewelry, and they will see the bracelet. My husband is a Dr, he said its always done this way, in every emergency room.

Yup! 

I hope and pray one day, that the medical community is educated about the DS, so we won't be in danger of misdiagnosis or bad medical care because no one knows what to do for us if we are not in a condition to speak for ourselves in an emergency!

 I have had 3 back to back laparoscopic surgeries this year. My abdomen has 9 slit scars randomly over the area above my naval. there is no way for any one to guess what kind of surgery I have had, let alone how many. I'm thinking of adding a medical section to my Facebook page, with all my medical info listed. The site address, Duodenal Switch , and name can both fit on a medic lert bracelet. 

 I've never understood why people think this is so important.  My logic is very different.  I figure I have a normal stomach, not a pouch, and I can be scoped.  I have no problem absorbing any oral meds.  I have a huge scar that indicates I had abdominal surgery and if they do an x-ray, I have a titanium ring attached to the end of my disconnected intestine.

Now I have considered a no MRI bracelet.

Patty L-

Why this is so important:

If you are, say in a very bad car accident, and sustain abdominal injuries with internal bleeding, and they open you up, your anatomy will look very different than someone who's got an unaltered stomach and  small intestines. 

Add the fact that the DS is not a commonly known surgery, and you run the risk of not having your abdominal injuries handled correctly, and some doctor with a God complex trying to "fix" you, not knowing that you're already the way you're supposed to be.

Again *the DS is NOT a common bariatric surgery - yet.  There are approximately 50 surgeons in the entire WORLD who perform this procedure. Most doctors have never even HEARD of the procedure, much less encountered a patient with one.  In the event that you are unconscious, or are not coherent enough to explain your surgery, those taking care of you need to be able to contact someone who can instruct them on the proper way to treat you.

This brings to mind an episode of the TV show ER, where a patient came in, and when he was taken for emergency abdominal surgery, his internal organs were in the reverse configuration from the standard anatomical chart.  That patient died on the operating table, because the surgeons were confused.

Hope I made sense to you.  This is not just any old abdominal surgery.