Choosing new bed

[JAM]

Hello all,
Moving my PAL from our upstairs master to first floor bedroom. Currently that room only has a full bed. Planning ahead I was looking at a Dream Cloud split bed where you can adjust separately for each side (head height). Anything I shoukd consider regarding matress firmness/softness? Other brand? I was not considering hospital bed bc I’d like to sleep with him but if you all think that’s better for him please lmk.
TIA!

 

[Nikki J]

Get a hospital bed. You can push another bed next to it at night for you. There are a lot of threads that discuss the hospital beds and Laurie offers specific advice.

You will need access from both sides, a lift will need to fit under and the proper hospital bed will have settings for positions that Dream Cloud won’t. I am sorry but dream cloud would be a very temporary fix

 

[JAM]

Don’t be sorry! Advice is what I’m looking for…

 

[JAM]

Any information regarding getting hospital bed is appreciated. Do you rent them? Do they deliver I have 4 steps into my front door.

 

[lgelb]

You can get them delivered inside and set up. But if you have a good handyperson who can read instructions/schematics, they can do the assembly for less $ so you are just paying the inflated price for inside delivery. We used a general handyman type. It did not take long at all.

Also see: Sleep

The beds that fulfill my checklist vary from site to site and sometimes month to month, but at the moment the best deal I see is the Joerns UltraCare XT available at RehabMart. The Roll In Low option, which is fine, is cheapest but you would probably want to add the half rails. If you want more ambiance they have optional wood panels as well.

 

[JAM]

Ty Laurie. I think we will go with the one you mentioned when we need to. I’m a little sad about not sleeping with him( it seems if I put a twin next to him there would be an issue of moving it to have access to him since you need both sides clear? That would be a lot for me. I’m on the smaller side.

 

[Nikki J]

The hospital bed will have lockable wheels so not that hard to move. I would get wheels on your bed too. My grandmother had a cot she slept in next to my grandfather but it was low even with his bed at his lowest and not at all comfortable. Get a real bed for yourself

 

[lgelb]

You don't need to move the bed (either one). Keep a few inches between and you can still reach out and touch him even with short arms (as are mine). If your own bed is on wheels, you can leave them unlocked so it will move enough away when you stand between his and yours.

 

[swalker]

I have been using a hospital bed for over 5 years now.

Ours was donated to us, though we had to pay to have it moved to us and into our house (about $2,000).

The bed belonged to someone whose spouse died of ALS. She donated it to the ALSA, but moving it out of her house was so hard, the ALSA just "stored" it at her place. After a few years, she was looking to get rid of it and let us know it was available. At that point it was officially the ALSA's bed, so she coordinated with them to get the bed officially donated to us.

Moving it was a big deal, because of where it was located in her house. It took four very strong people to get it out. Getting it into our house should have been easier, but the moving company only sent 3 people. The bed weighs close to 500 very awkward pounds, and the 3 people really struggled to get it into our house, doing a bit of damage (to the house and the bed) along the way.

The bed is quite old (probably over 20 years old), but wonderful. it has handrails and all the expected power functions (legs, heads, elevate, and forward and reverse trandelenburg. The bed will automatically put me in a seated position. It is wonderful.

One of the critical items is the mattress. It is a special foam-filled air mattress that we set to automatically adjust pressure to reduce the likelihood of bed sores. I had a few problem with bed sores before getting the bed, but none sense.

I have trouble getting my head and torso up when flat. The bed will do that for me and makes it so much easier to get out of the bed. I spend more time in the bed than I ever could have imagined, about 14 to 16 hours on many days.

I will also add that I procrastinated for over a year after my neurologist suggested I get a hospital bed. After that year, I spent another year investigating and then finally coming across the bed I use now. I really, really, really did not want to get a hospital bed, but once I had it, realized how much it helped.

I encourage others to not wait as long as I did!

Steve

 

[MarthaC]

The beds that fulfill my checklist vary from site to site and sometimes month to month, but at the moment the best deal I see is the Joerns UltraCare XT available at RehabMart. The Roll In Low option, which is fine, is cheapest but you would probably want to add the half rails. If you want more ambiance they have optional wood panels as well.

This is the exact bed we have. Delivery and set up were a significant portion of the cost, so yes, having someone handy does help.

Piece of info -- RehabMart will wait until the bed is delivered to schedule a company to bring inside/set up. That can be an extra delay, if you're in a hurry.

Our mattress is a basic one from Amazon with a gel topper that I bought from the medical supply store when we rented a bed.

 

[lgelb]

Thanks for mentioning the need to get a mattress and overlay, Martha. I'm into layered latex but there are certainly a lot of foam options to mix and match these days.