how many wear medic alert bracelets

[deerslayer]

mine arrived yesterday from http://www.medicalert.org/home/Homegradient.aspx i jumped into this pretty hastily. they have these things on ebay from different sources, only difference is these don't keep any records on file . probably not necessary

[gasp]

[quote="ArtWench"]Actually this is an excellent topic. Several years ago, I underwent a rather intense spinal surgery and though I told my surgeon about the sleep apnea and brought my cpap to the hospital with me, no one thought to put it on me in recovery even though I kept having waking apnea incidents. I will never forget the look of terror on my friend's face as husband ran to the car to retrieve my machine. My friend and a nurse were monitoring the incidents and yelling, "Breath, Angela! Breath!" Every time I stopped."

So, yeah, I think that I am going to look into a Medic Alert bracelet.

[Patzee]

Howdies all, Just to chime in, when I went in for a routine q.3year colonoscopy, I'd been newly diagnosed with COPD, and a heart condition (on top of already Dx mild OSA.)

Always an active "partner" with my medical pros, I queried my gastro doc on which of those three of my medical conditions he was going to be most concerned with (i.e. which had the higher potential for presenting a problem) during the procedure.

kayfouroh, you too will probably be as surprised with his answer as I was - it was the OSA!

deerslayer, I too, have been considering wearing a med alert (like you, have several medical situations including a variety of Rx.s.)

Until you reach your decision on the med alert, here is a "possible" - my husband and I wallet-carry a computer print-out of our respective medical conditions, docs n' #'s, our meds n' dosages; ADDITIONALLY I list my OSA, and prescribed pressure of 11; mask name n'size. Oh yes,, and the adult immunizations (tetnaus/pneumonia/flu/Zostavax) & dates received.

Patzee

[Patzee]

Geewiz! Sorry, I missed the boat again - I am so slow - glad you got it and thanks for a go-to-see link!

And yes! - what Joyce said! - and welcome to Mrs. deerslayer.

Patzee

[lifeartist59]

Thanks for the link, I have several conditions that should be noted. I carry a wallet card, but may get something else too.

[AdmiralCougar]

I wear a bracelet that includes my allergies and conditions including OSA and SEE WALLET CARD because I was told by a paramedic friend that they aren't allowed to go through your stuff and look in your wallet unless you've given permission to do so, and putting instructions on the bracelet lets them look for your wallet to get that information. On my "Wallet Card" (A Printout Word Document) I describe OSA, and my settings, list all my meds, contacts and Dr numbers, all my conditions, and Consent to treat (which was suggested by my Paramedic Friend).

Christy

[tattooyu]

Actually this is an excellent topic. Several years ago, I underwent a rather intense spinal surgery and though I told my surgeon about the sleep apnea and brought my cpap to the hospital with me, no one thought to put it on me in recovery even though I kept having waking apnea incidents. I will never forget the look of terror on my friend's face as husband ran to the car to retrieve my machine. My friend and a nurse were monitoring the incidents and yelling, "Breath, Angela! Breath!" Every time I stopped."

So, yeah, I think that I am going to look into a Medic Alert bracelet.

Angela, that is nearly the exact same thing that happened to me in recovery after having my gallbladder taken out. I could hear them telling me to breathe, and when I woke up, I started freaking because I couldn't breathe. My chest felt SO heavy. When they finally put oxygen on me it was a little better, but I'm sure my body was chock full of stress hormones by that point. That whole day my pulse was above normal (~120 bpm).

Never again will I have surgery without my CPAP. Hopefully, I'll never need surgery again, but who knows.

I got my MedicAlert dogtag necklace and wallet card on Friday! I didn't know to put "See Wallet Card" on it though.

[LinkC]

I wear a large scarlet "A" (for apnea, of course!) sewn onto my bodice...err...shirt! And I'm required to call out "Unrested! Unrested!" whenever I'm out in public.

[DaveL]

Had surgery for broken tib/fib...Doc insisted that cpap was at hospital before he would operate.

Next day...fell asleep when I least expected it. Also have restless leg syndrome and kicked my newly fixed leg inside its cast. From then on had my mask on even when I was sitting up! Strange looks!

I don't have a medic alert bracelet. Concerned...if I'm unconcious after an accident I don't want sleep apnea blaimed as its cause. Is that a valid concern, or am I just paranoid?

[ThomasMcKean]

I pondered for years getting one because of the autism but never did. Then when the fibromyalgia came along on top of that in '97, I finally decided it was time to set my pride aside and get one anyway. Mine is full. There is no room on it for anything else. Sometimes when I look at it, I wonder why I am not dead? *Blink*

Soon after I got it, I designed a special bracelet. It was like one of those watch bands that stretch so yew can take it on and off. It was a fairly elaborate design due to some other things I added to it and I even considered patenting the design. Looking back I should have done that because a few years later Medic Alert themselves came out with something pretty doggone close to what I had. (Though in their defense, I personally prefer their design to my own.)

I usually have the bracelet looped around the doorknob to the front door. When I leave the house, I put it on. Also, if I am going out on the motorbike, I *always* wear it. (And of course I always wear my stars & stripes Captain America viva 'la seventies motorcycle helmet, too!)

One thing I always make a point of doing when I am presenting at disability conferences around the country is putting up the link to medic alert on my powerpoint towards the end and suggest to parents they get one for their children. Many parents have decided to after the talk, and that is just a wise thing to do, I think.

I never thought about adding the OSA to the database... Maybe I should do that because I don't really fancy the idea of a bunch of nurses screaming at me to breathe...

[Catnap]

LinkC, I am LITERALLY laughing out loud! GREAT post!!

[DyannaK]

I wear a bracelet with my OSA on it as well as ICE info for my husband... I am not taking any chances..

[ThomasMcKean]

LinkC, I am LITERALLY laughing out loud! GREAT post!!

Indeed. If I hear anyone yelling "unrested!" in public, I will for sure run the other way!

[LinkC]

Catnap--
Hey, we ALL had to read the darn thing in high school! But I never dreamed it would actually come in handy someday... Thanks.

Thomas--
Yeah, you should try it sometime in Macy's. It gets quite a reaction. (Not so much in Walmart, tho. I wonder why...?)

[Debjax]

Hubby does, due to his heart problems and diabetes. I should, due to my asthma and penicillin allergy. I do have a wallet card. Am in the process now of creating "medical keys", using USB thumb drives with a basic medical record, since we do travel and if hubby has a problem while out of town, the docs will have a basic history. Asked and received from our cardio the parts of his medical record that HE would want to see on a heart patient brought in to see him in an emergency, scanning those to PDF and putting it on a usb drive with a medic alert sticker on it.