Medic Alert - Tissue Valves

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bbb

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
179
Location
Southwest
Hello,
I am 2 weeks post surgery and have a tissue valve. I have a card to carry in my wallet about the valve and a hand written Medic Alert card that says I have had aneurysm repair and aortic tissue valve now, with family doc, cardio, and emergency contact. I am currently on a betablocker and baby aspirin.

What else have others with tissue valves done in terms of Medic Alert issues?

Thanks, Betsy
 
Hi Betsy,
I was just reading a thread in "Small Talk" ..Medical Alert Bracelet Question that may have some suggestions for you..
Have a good day!
Allan
 
This thread and a simultaneous thread in the ACT forum--where some members mentioned placing an ACT-recipient engraved label on their drivers license, which seems to me to be a good idea--reminded me that my family doctor insisted my tetanus booster date be written with a Sharpie marker on the back of my drivers license. There is still room on the back of my license for me to add further important medical information.
 
Rachel, I am going to come over there and spank you:D :D
What happens when you are pinned under a car wreckage with only your pretty little wrist sticking out? Your chest scar won't be visible, but your medic bracelet will be. (ok, I watch TV too much)
Can't you find a bracelet or necklace that you like? I specifically chose a very fine sterling silver one so that it would not look like those stainless steel "I am a sickie" bracelets....that is just my personal preference. My Mom had a stainless one and it suited her just fine; believe me, there was not a purse big enough to hold all of my Mom's medical info. She hated her bracelet. I love mine.:)
 
I don't see any reason for most tissue valve owners to wear a medic alert bracelet at all. In the case of someone with aneurystic problems, it might make sense. In this case, if Betsy were brought to the emergency room unconscious, it could tip her doctors off to look for possible aneurysm complications.

Also, if it's a concern, tissue valve owners might want to carry a card for the first few months while they're on temporary anticoagulation therapy. But I agree, the fresh scar should be a tipoff.

If the person has no aneurystic issues, I can't think of any medical reason for notification or a medical alert bracelet. Having a tissue aortic valve doesn't change any emergency medical procedures.

Worse, it could make some rattled intern think that you might be on Coumadin (you'd be amazed how many doctors automatically jump to that conclusion, even though the card says it's a tissue valve), and then he or she might do something inappropriate to you because of it.

Best wishes,
 
Tissue valve members may not need one. I can see a tissue valver wanting to get one when they start experiencing symptoms of that valve deteriorating. If you're out cold, I think you'd want someone to know just what is up. If you are taking other medications - I'd do one. Valve replacment plus medication is something any medical personal would want to know regardless of whether you have a tissue valve or not.

The other idea is putting a note on your driver's license. Not everyone is going to rip off your shirt when you're unconscious.;)
 
I carry a card in my wallet provided by Medtronics stating the facts about the Medtronic Freestyle of which I am the proud owner. I don't know if it would ever help in a medical situation but I figure if the steel wiring that holds me together ever sets off an ultra-sensitive airport alarm, I could whip out the card to explain myself. :)

After an unsettling episode I described in "Active Lifestyles" yesterday, I have just ordered medical dogtags on a necklace. That's mainly because of my diabetes-2, and possible blood sugar bonks during outdoor exercise. But I've got on there some of my heart stuff too. Doesn't hurt anything, and if it helps provide a sense of security in venturing out into the great wide world, that makes it worthwhile in itself.

Just my two cents.
 
Then it would be for the medications, not the valve.

Wearing one when your tissue valve is beginning to wear out would be like telling everyone here in the waiting room to wear one as well. If your valve is going bad, it can be very easily heard with a stethoscope. There's no added attraction or safety net to the medical bracelet.

In any non-emergency (and most emergency) situations, an xray comes first, which would also reveal all (especially in conjunction with the scar and the wallet card - which they do look for). As the tissue valve changes no procedures, there's no value added.

Best wishes,
 
tobagotwo said:
Wearing one when your tissue valve is beginning to wear out would be like telling everyone here in the waiting room to wear one as well.
Click to expand...

Actually - I did wear one when I was in the waiting room.:) My doctor suggested I do so when I was starting to have symptoms. His reasoning was if I ever passed out someplace he wanted people to not have to start at square one to figure out why I passed out and head directly to looking for heart related issues. I can see the same logic for someone who's tissue valve is starting to wear out and cause symptoms, particularly those people who participate in running or other similar activities.
 
Hmm. This makes me curious. I have a tissue valve and when I go for my next doc visit I will ask about jewelry. I did not even think about it until I read it here. Glad I did.
 
I just carry a card in my wallet. I actually thought it might be wise to put the original in my safe deposit box so I made 2 color copies. One is in my wallet, the other in my jewelry box (just ready in case I lose the one in my wallet).

Before surgery I just took a sharpie and wrote aortic stenosis on the back of my driver's license and drew a red cross next to it. Made me feel better. Have since renewed the license (it was ancient anyway and I knew I would be) and nothing appears on it.

My sense of it is that the emergency personnel look at driver's licenses. I spoke to a mom whose job that is and she says they just want to know who you are...need a name to use....so they look for ID. You know how they are always talking to unconscious people to roust them. Seemed to make sense to me. I suspect they look at cell phones, too.

A long time ago, here on VR.com, someone (Karlynn?) brought up the use of ICE. I think that is a good idea. If you always have your cell phone on you, then in the address book go to the I section and enter an ICE (In Case of Emergency) name and number. I made sure everyone in the family did that. Why not also put some info in there about your valve? Think I might just go do that!

And after Bob's remark (Tobagotwo) I think I'm going to sharpie onto my valve ID card...NOT ON Coumadin!! Since it's just a photocopy.....I can do that and make changes later if I need to.

:) Marguerite
 
just a quick thought. . .

a sternotomy scar can say alot more than "valve replacement" sternotomy scars are used to do congenital heart surgeries as well as coronary bypass surgeries. I would be concerned with the paramedics knowlege first, one of my big problems is that my blood pressure runs low sometimes, I would be afraid that they would see the sternotomy and immediately think bypass and angina, and give me nitroglycerine, which could result in my having NO blood pressure at all. . .not exactly a good thing! these are things that are done right off, before an xray is taken, and a history is known.

I would wear a medic alert bracelet, especially if you are symptomatic because of the assumptions that can be made that can be harmful (this is coming from someone who is a complicated case, there are alot of bad/wrong assumptions that could be made in my case that could result in less than satisfactory results)

I wear a medical bracelet (not medic alert) stating that I have an extensive cardiac history, and that I am a congenital heart patient, it also states that I have a card in my wallet that gives my full history. I have had 2 open heart surgeries as a baby, and toddler, and I am 21, a sternotomy scar on a 21 year old can be quite confusing, not to mention, it can freak out a newbie paramedic, especially one around here where there arent a whole lot of congenital heart patients. (another thing is that I have passed out before, and if I were to pass out again and be found, I would want doctor and cardiologist numbers available right off, as well as a full history available) I know, I am not a typical VR patient, but this is plausible, and something that needs to be taken into consideration

hope this helps

Morgan, 21
 
Thanks for the reminder!

Thanks for the reminder!

Wow!! I've had 3 MVR's and all tissue, but I must admit that carrying something has never occurred to me!! Well, next time I'll definitely have something on me should something go wrong.
Débora
 
It was my impression that valve implants are of concern to doctors in many emergency situations so that they can order administration of prophylactic antibiotics. Endocarditis kills.
 
Yes bacterial endocarditis kills, but prophylactic antibiotics don't stop endocarditis. 1 + 0 doesn't equal 2. Not that they could miss the chest scar anyway.

And a medic alert bracelet on a tissue valve recipient has no value in an emergency room. If there is anything wrong with the valve, they will hear it immediately with a simple stethoscope, which they always use.

Even the cards are not really necessary to carry. I was given one by Medtronics with the surgery date, model number and serial number of the valve. My surgeon also provided a card, and the reason for that was it holds the surgery date, the hospital address for information, the valve size, and the valve model number. Both were presented to me in case there was ever a recall, not for emergency information use.

The chances are much greater of triggering an error in treatment by the doctor thinking that you are presenting in anticoagulated condition - after all, why else would you be wearing a medical alert bracelet with a tissue valve? There's nothing special for them to do if you have a tissue valve and you're not anticoagulated.

For an aneurysm, a medic alert bracelet sounds like a good idea if you're sitting at 4.5 or more. For an aneurysm - not for a tissue valve.

Best wishes,
 
tobagotwo said:
Yes bacterial endocarditis kills, but prophylactic antibiotics don't stop endocarditis. 1 + 0 doesn't equal 2. Not that they could miss the chest scar anyway.

And a medic alert bracelet on a tissue valve recipient has no value in an emergency room. If there is anything wrong with the valve, they will hear it immediately with a simple stethoscope, which they always use.

Even the cards are not really necessary to carry. I was given one by Medtronics with the surgery date, model number and serial number of the valve. My surgeon also provided a card, and the reason for that was it holds the surgery date, the hospital address for information, the valve size, and the valve model number. Both were presented to me in case there was ever a recall, not for emergency information use.

The chances are much greater of triggering an error in treatment by the doctor thinking that you are presenting in anticoagulated condition - after all, why else would you be wearing a medical alert bracelet with a tissue valve? There's nothing special for them to do if you have a tissue valve and you're not anticoagulated.

For an aneurysm, a medic alert bracelet sounds like a good idea if you're sitting at 4.5 or more. For an aneurysm - not for a tissue valve.

Best wishes,
Click to expand...

This sounds logical to me. I ran it past my husband, Bob, who has spent some time as a first responder, and he concurred. So I'm going with the two Bob's advice.;) :)
 
If antibiotics don't stop endocarditis, why am I required to use them prior to invasive procedures and dental treatments?

If a doctor doesn't take the additional steps to discover why you're wearing a medical information tag, then that doctor should re-evaluate his methods. Not looking beyond the obvious is another effective killer of people, too.

I'm just presenting another point of view since I don't think there's a true right or wrong in this situation. I'm of the school that there's no such thing as too much information, it's ignorance that's the problem.
 
I see too much of the opposite in my work - too much information dilutes the message or misleads the reader, who traditionally prefers to jump to the quickest conclusion after reading only part of the first sentence. It's much more useful and successful to deal accurately with what people do do in most circumstances, than to expect them to do what they should do.

I'm betting you won't be required to take those antibiotics in a few years. A huge study done with data over the last 50 years and presented to the ACC definitively shows no statistical advantage to taking prophylactic antibiotics before procedures to avoid endocarditis. The AHA and ACC drastically changed their stance on this subject already this year. They have removed from the list a large portion of the people who were recommended to take them (note: it was always a recommendation, not a requirement). They'll let the rest of us off the hook as soon as they can do it without embarrassing themselves completely, and their insurance companies are sure they won't get hit with lawsuits.

Best wishes,
 
tobagotwo said:
I'm betting you won't be required to take those antibiotics in a few years. A huge study done with data over the last 50 years and presented to the ACC definitively shows no statistical advantage to taking prophylactic antibiotics before procedures to avoid endocarditis. The AHA and ACC drastically changed their stance on this subject already this year. They have removed from the list a large portion of the people who were recommended to take them (note: it was always a recommendation, not a requirement). They'll let the rest of us off the hook as soon as they can do it without embarrassing themselves completely, and their insurance companies are sure they won't get hit with lawsuits.

Best wishes,
Click to expand...
That's heartening news, indeed. I would be overjoyed to be able to stop taking large dosage antibiotics. There are far too many super bugs in the world for comfort and I think that limiting the bacteria's exposure to the drugs used to treat them can only be good.

Thanks for your considerate response.
 
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