When Darcey was still able to sleep in "our" bed, she began to have difficulties moving her legs and turning. One of the first things that we added was a Safety Bed Rail. It slid under the mattress, provided a slide rail (that she could push or pull against) and was actually quite sturdy. She also used a wide scarf that she looped under one leg. At night, she'd reach out to grab the ends of the scarf, pull and use it to help her weakening leg muscle move her leg. As it became more and more difficult to move her legs, she also began to cramp and get heel flares (her heels would feel like they were on fire). Keeping the blanket off of her toes was a big help in minimizing the pain in her legs and feet.
Now that we've moved to the hospital bed, we've added an 8" low pressure alternating air mattress. Ours is on loan from the ALS Loan Closet. But it is something that we would have purchased if it was not available. That one item has made the difference between Darcey having to turn every 60 to 90 minutes versus sleeping comfortably all night. We use a pillow case stuffed with two pillows at the end of the bed for her feet. It is high enough that it keeps the blanket off her toes and it pushes the ball of her feet back towards her body (which has done wonders to minimize the occurrence of leg cramps and heel flares). And we use a turn pad to help with dressing in the morning. It allows me to pull up her underwear and stretch pants and then using the turn pad, I easily move her onto her side. I pull up one side, lay her back down and can pull up the other side... and we're done. All of her stretch pants have stripes (of different colors) so it is extremely easy to make sure her pants go on straight.
Yep... I also hope this helps...
Jim
