My brother is bed-bound and his dementia is worsening. He cannot stand, and is Hoyer-lifted to a wheelchair for a couple hours several times a week. He has been bed bound 2 years and lives in a pretty nice care facility. Not long ago he tried to exit the bed on his own for the first time and fell to the hard wood floor. Then a week later it happened again.
We talked about it. He imagines he has to get to work, or is late for classes at the university, or wants to take a trip. He does know he can't walk, but he forgets.
His doctor requisitioned a Hi-Lo bed that the caregivers can lower to inches off the floor for safety when they leave the room, and I ordered a cushioning mat for the floor. These measures have really helped. However, the bed is too short for him and his foot presses against the footboard. We ordered a bed extender (4 inches) but the bed still seems too short.
This bed seems lower quality than his original bed in several respects, but it is what his insurance plan approved for him.
I am investigating the possibility of buying a larger Hi-Lo bed from Agiliti (formerly Sizewise). Does anyone have experience with buying a patient's own bed vs renting one? At this point I don't care what the insurance approves; he basically lives in his bed and I want to get something nice.
I may call a bedding manufacture to run this buy them. You maybe able to get a mattress but will u be able to get a hospital bed frame?
The go for it--something nice you can do for brother who sounds very ill and challenged.
My own DH is 6'5" and even the xl beds in hospitals are actually painful for him to be in, when he's been hospitalized. His feet hit the bottom of the bed frame and cause massive muscle spasms. Luckily he was up and down all day, but he'd look at those 'short' beds and want to cry, knowing within minutes of getting back in bed, he'd be in pain from head to toe.
Be sure to get a really nice mattress, one that has the alternating pressure point 'air pockets'. Takes the stress off one spot so bedsores are much less likely to occur.
Good Luck. You are a good brother!!