Sleeping Conundrum...

[Santa joe]

Tillie, I remember when Joe was wearing the CPAP and later BIPAP, he could always sleep better in the recliner. After all of our years of marriage, it took some getting use to - sleeping alone. I miss those days. He is still a big man and takes up the entire hospital bed. I know I couldn't snuggle next to him because of the pain issues. Once again, the little things.........

Debbie

 

[rosec]

This is how my PALS goes to sleep these days: he prefers to sleep on his side, so when I first put him down, I have to turn him to his side, arrange his arms and legs, and pillows. About ten minutes later, I have to turn him so that he lies on his back. Another twenty/thirty minutes later, back to his side again. I will go to sleep now because he will sleep like that for two or three hours in the night and some time in the middle would have turned to his back by himself. Another turn, back to sleep for another couple hours, and turn again and sleep.....

 

[JimInVA]

For the most part, I am one of the fortunate ones. I seldom have problems dropping back to sleep, so that aspect hasn't been too bad... but I am finding that each night is entirely different from the one before. Currently, we're starting on the back... good for 2-3.5 hours... then a side for an hour or so... then the other side for an hour or so... the to the back again. I do, however, anticipate that this cycle will again change...

Jim

 

[JimInVA]

Strange event last night. Upon awakening with sore hip and needing to be turned from her side and return to being on her back, Darcey commented that everything from her waist down felt like it was ice cold. And while her feet were cold to my touch, the rest of her felt to be a normal temperature. We're guessing it was some kind of "nerve" thing... as she began to feel warmer after turning onto her back.

Since moving to the hospital bed, I'm finding it much more difficult to move my PALS up in the bed. So tonight, I'm going to try using a regular bed sheet by folding it and placing it on the bed before I sling her in. I'm hoping to be able to use this to pull her upwards towards the head of the bed without actually having to lift her. It may also make turning and re-positioning an easier task. As it is, my lower back is taking a beating and I'm hoping to not have to re-sling each time an adjustment is necessary...

Jim

 

[Diane H]

You are on the right track, Jim. I love people who problem solve! What you are describing is called a draw sheet in nurse speak. Using a standard bed sheet is ok in a pinch but it will wrinkle and wrinkles under a hip get painful. For easier turning you need a draw sheet that is slippery on the back, strong, and won't wrinkle. A bed pad such as this one works great.
Incontinence Turn Pad | eBay

The soft quilted top won't wrinkle, the backing slides easily. I had 2 similar pads for at least 8 years and they haven't come apart from thousands of pulls and turns and machine wash and dry. Mine don't have the handles and they might be prone to ripping out, but they would be a great help even if they wore out sooner.

Using a satin sheet on the bed will really reduce the friction that makes turning difficult. Go easy the first time you try this. It may be so slippery you could flip her right over!

To further save your back, raise the entire hospital bed up. Having to bend down to pull is extra hard on your back. For scooting up in bed, the best way is to move the bed away from the wall so you can stand at the head of the bed to pull up instead of tugging from both sides.

You are doing a great job, Jim!

 

[JimInVA]

Diane,

I'll work with the sheet until the turn pad (just ordered!) arrives next week. It is great knowing about the wrinkles so that I can try to keep them at bay. Next, I'll begin looking for some nice satin sheets for her bed. Thanks for the pointers!

Jim

 

[affected]

Slide sheets are so much better than the old draw sheets!

They were very economical over here, not sure where you would get them there but a net search would be easy.

I got mine from an ozzie site called slipperysally dot com do au

Even though we used a hoist, the slide sheets were wonderful for repositioning, especially if he went down the bed ...

 

[JimInVA]

Thanks, Tillie! I'll take a look...

Jim

 

[JimInVA]

So... last night was the first night using a bed sheet as a "turning pad". I carefully folded the queen sized sheet in half and in half again. Placing in smack dab in the middle of the bed, I tried to smooth out any wrinkles as best as I could. The first roll over was at 1:15AM. I grabbed the side of the sheet... and pulling up, she turned as smooth as could be from her back to her side. At 3:00AM, she just as easily rolled to her back. It was then that I realized I needed to move her higher in the bed. My first thought was "how am I going to do this?" I had visions of climbing onto the bed and straddling her head as I reached down to pull on the sheet. But the detailed imagining of how I'd actually get into that position and what might happen were I to slip had me shaking my head and laughing to myself. And then I remembered Diane''s "stand at the head of the bed to pull up" advice... and we were both saved from any compromising positions. :roll: Anyway... this was much easier than the brute strength method I'd been using. In fact, I think we're making some great progress!

Jim

 

[MaxEidswick]

>In fact, I think we're making some great progress!

good going, Jim!

 

[affected]

awesome Jim, this could make both your nights far easier for some time!

I did enjoy the way you told the story, vivid imagery! :shock:

 

[zoohouse]

I too have to manage getting Tim into bed on my own, which means some creative positioning. Because he is so tall and it hurts him if he is not turn evenly on his side, I sit him up to put on or remove his sling. After putting him in bed, I unsling his legs and then get up on the bed between his legs, and use the upper straps on his sling to pull him into a sitting position. I slide my right arm behind his shoulders and pull the sling out from behind him with my right. Then I start to lay him back slowing the decent with my left arm, but sometimes I am pulled off my knees and end up on top of him. He usually responds with a "Hi there" and eye brow wiggle. I don't think I would ever use this technique on anyone but my husband.
Jim, if your hospital bed will tilt the whole bed down at the head you can use this to prevent her from sliding down. I raise the head of Tim's bed to where he is comfortable then tilt the bed so that the head of the bed is lower than the foot. This is called the Trendelenburg position. I use this a lot at the hospital, and it also can be used to assist pulling her up in bed, using gravity as an assistant.

Paulette

 

[JimInVA]

@Tillie - the stories are half the fun...

@Paulette - The hospital bed has only three controls... (1) bed up/down, (2) head up/down and (3) bend at the knees up/down. Before slinging her into bed (I do this more gently than that sounded), I raise the head up to about a 45 degree angle. This lets me determine where her behind is going to be. I then move her over the bed and push her up to wear the angle begins. I then lower her partially so that she's touching the bed and won't move. I put on her BiPAP and then lower her the rest of the way. I get the legs straight and then begin removing the sling - leg straps first, then arms back in from the upper back straps and end with undoing of waist straps. At this point, with this particular Liko sling, what is left is only behind her back. I'm actually then able to pull it straight back, away from her head, and it slides out as pretty as you please. I can see, however, how the Trendelenburg would make it easier to pull her body back towards the head of the bed in the middle of the night. Thanks for illustrating your process so that I could compare with mine. I can't tell you how much I appreciate being able to directly compare methods of doing tasks...

Jim

 

[Barbie]

Rose, my story is the exact same as yours! LOL. I think I need to watch a u tube video for a drawsheet, I have heard of them several times and even the CNA talked about it. right now I turn his head and then turn his shoulders, and push his knees with my FEET! that rolls him over to the other side and is easy on my body....then I sit up in bed and adjust the positioning until he is comfortable.

 

[JimInVA]

I've been able to make the folded up queen sheet work... but it does want to fold up on itself. Tonight we'll do a couple of things differently. First, I accidentally found that pulling Darcey higher (more towards the head) in the bed, seemed to alleviate much of the lower back pain she's been feeling while on her back. We'll experiment to see if this really is a "hot damn" kind of thing that will keep working or is was just a lucky moment. And... the new drawsheet arrived today. So I'll get to work with that... and believe I'm going to really appreciate having it.

So now, I have to reveal one of those "can you be so stupid, Jim?" moments. For the many months leading up to moving from the queen bed to the hospital bed, I've moved Darcey from the same, one side of the bed. In moving her to the hospital bed, I continued to do the same thing... particularly since the other side was up against the wall. Unfortunately, I was having difficulty because I was now doing the rolling from the opposite side from what I was used to. You know how muscles and methods become ingrained with practice? Well it now felt entirely different and more difficult from this other side. Well last night I had an epiphany. I went upstairs before bed time and looked at the bed. Something was nagging at me... I just wasn't sure what it was. And then it came to me. The bed is on wheels. I could roll it out AWAY from the wall so that I could get to both sides of the bed. It also made it easier to reach over from the head of the bed. That moment of brilliance was quickly replaced with realization that so simple a solution had eluded me this long. Oh well. A quick shake of my head, a quick laugh at myself and I was ready to surprise Darcey with my new arrangement. My dear wife, of course, accused me of being genius. Okay... so I basked in the glow of the after moment for a bit... and didn't correct her. What can I say?

Jim