Sleeping Comfortably

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Miss

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My husband is suddenly waking up with backaches after being in bed about 5-6 hours. He can no longer turn over and does not like for me to turn him over. Has anyone ever tried the mattress genie from J.C.Penney or something similar? It makes your current mattress work like an adjustable bed (for a whole lot less money!). Seems like it would work until we can get him a hospital bed.
 
I just got me a hospital bed (covered by medicare), and I love it! I have a 4" memory foam topper on it from Walmart. The topper makes a huge difference!
 
Missy don't screw around with it. Get a hospital bed with alternating low pressure mattress from the VA.
 
How long does that take? Do they have something larger than a "twin" size? My husband is a really big guy (6'1" and 280 lbs).
 
It took about 6 weeks to get ours, and it is a twin. I doubt our bed is 6 feet long, so you need to request a BIG one.
 
I don't know how your husband is doing with hand and arm strength, but I have a half bed rail that I can grab during the night to help with turning over.
 
Almost no hand and arm strength, so I don't think a bed rail would work. I'll see if we can get something ordered this week.
 
Missy, I believe he needs an extra long bariatric hospital bed. The alternating air topper is wonderful. Can he sleep on his back? I taught myself to stay on my back without turning, and prior to losing strength had never been a back sleeper (meaning if I can do it, it can be done...), using a woolfleece pad to sleep on so there are no bedsore issues. If you have an ALSA for your area with a loan closet, you might ask them if there's an available bed and topper, to have until the VA hospital gets what he needs to you.
 
Yes, my husband is a back sleeper. Good idea about the ALSA closet. I'll check with them tomorrow.
 
We have a Mattress Genie don't waste your money. We got it so he could take it to a retreat center and didn't have a recliner to use. We did try the straps to hold the mattress.


This is from some reviews and was our experience also. It would have to be in a bed where he is by himself and can move to center on it.

I can see how some reviewers had an issue when a husband and wife tried to lay on the bed together while using the mattress genie. It is very stable in the center of the bed (so works great for one person centered on the bed), but does make the edges rather unstable so it may be a challenge for two people laying on the edges of the bed. I would recommend using it with a bed that has a solid footboard (as well as headboard or up against a wall), as it does indeed tend to move the mattress toward the foot of the bed as it raises it. Similarly, the air bladder tends to move itself toward the head of the bad at the same time. A footboard stops the mattress from moving too far, so kept it well contained.
 
Okay! Definitely sounds like we will skip this! Thank you for the input!
 
Re: How I learned to sleep without turning over

Missy, if you purchase a bed now it will replace the need for a hospital bed later. I am about as disabled as a person can be and still be transfered to a power wheelchair during the day.

Here is a link to our website that gives you more information on what we did. Our Bed
 
Missy.. he shouldn't need a bariatric bed. Glen's hospital bed is a full size extra long, rated for up to 400 pounds. Glen was not yet on medicare when we got the bed so we paid out of pocket, and it wasn't cheap, but it's worked well. I do think I'm going to look into the foam topper though. My own mattress is a tempupedic and I love it, so I'm sure he would benefit from the memory foam.
 
Go to Costco, we got a 3 inch memory foam, Queen about 130 bucks.
 
why does he not like you to turn hiM?
an easy way is to have an extra sheet, perhaps easy to slide, so that you can just pull on the edges of the sheet to turn him away from you without having to handle him except to make him comfortable.
 
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