I am wondering if the memory foam matress is going to be OK. DW has been in bed over a month now and no sores so far. I think being in bed all the time is also the cause of her depression, she is not able to accept that she can no longer walk or even stand up. I think this stage is the hardest emotionally. Watching someone suffer thru Sundowning and talking them down each night is getting very difficult to do.
i would definately ask hospice to supply a bubble air mattress with a power supply that rotates air to keep her comfortable. these mattresses are specific for bedridden patients to avoid pressure sores. the memory foam is good i had one as well but its not and doesnt allow the skin to breathe as well or moves specific extremities to avoid pressure. my DH has been mostly bedridden now almost 2yrs. do you get your wife up at all? you can use a transfer chair or geri chair at least to get her out of bed and sit her up with a tray for a few hrs /day. its fairly easy to move them to the chair from a hospital bed and only requires a step or two from the standup to sitting in the chair. i wouldnt leave them all day in bed if at all possible. if she cant move at all, then i would ask hospice to send out aides during the day to help sit her up and put her back into bed. or if they wont do it, hire private help.
DH is bedridden except with help I place in wheelchair for 3 times a day for meals. Yes air mattress is great, supplied by hospice. All pressure sores are healed. Good luck moorsb
Moorsb I am also New to the bedridden stage of this journey. DW's doctor has written a prescription for bed and air mattress. I didn't think about hospice since my insurance will cover the cost. Along the same line I've spent the last 2 hours searching the Internet looking for information on washing DW hair and found little information. Does anyone have any experience washing an individuals hair? My daughter says "Dad Mom doesn't understand anyway I think we should cut it short, short.". She is probably right but I'm not ready yet. Any suggestions?
aalferio, at the major drugstores there is a no rinse shampoo that you just rub in/dry off and no need to rinse with water. its easy to do and is located in the regular shampoo sections. if you need more of a full bath product i use the READY BATH complete body cleansing that is also for full body/hair and no rinse as well which work great. you can even microwave a bit to heat up or use out of package. made by medline.. 1-800-medline. they use these in the hospitals as well. giving your wife a shorter do would probably be better to keep it looking neat. some hairdressers will come to the house and cut it too if you explain the situation. good luck.
Hospice gets her up and gives her a shower every other day, on those days I put her in a geri chair. She needs her depends changed and I am not able to do that in the chair. She usually winds up straining her neck when in the chair so she does not stay lomg in it.
my husband is bedridden and the VA supplied the first air mattress that was pumped manually..but since being on Hospice since May 2011 he also has a air mattress but it is way better you autually have to input the patients weight to make sure it is not too hard or too soft and it has definitely help with bed sore it stayed at a 2 doesnt need duoderm any longer just a foam pad on the sore area because he is so bony at the tailend
I am wanting to know of those who are at this stage. Does your LO know what is going on? It seems every night now I have to sit with her and hold hand and comfort her to get her to go to sleep. She gets very upset and it is terrible to watch. The drugs do not work, it is like she is fighting them trying to keep from sleeping. I think this is the hardest stage .
No my DW doesn't understand what is going on. In general she is laughing and giggling. It was much more difficult when she was aware, however, the silence can be unnerving.
My dh does know what is going on sometimes and I can tell he gets frightened when he doesn't understand. I try and explain things very simply (sometime several times) until he agrees. DH has been bedbound since April of 2011. I have a hospital bed that I rent that is fully electric (foot and head). I pay extra for that but well worth it. A few months ago, we got the air pressure mattress. I still use pillows to keep dh on one side or the other as they can only do so much. As far as any other mattresses, I originally looked into and was about to purchase the memory foam mattress until I asked the question about bed wetting. Well you can toss the mattress out if that happens. No matter how careful you are, accidents happen. The mattress that comes with the bed are ok and covered well. Then the air pressure mattress goes on top of that. I tried it before and after the air mattress and it was not bad as far as comfort. I always have lights on in the bedroom and open the curtains to let in as much light as possible during the day. I go from TV to music as I think DH gets bored with the same thing all of the time. I change the position of the bed as well so it is not always way up or way down. You just do the best you can. A lot of what we do it trial and error. Just don't give up. Good luck. One nurse told me she visits some people that have no sounds around them at all. That can be very depressing for anyone. I also give dh 3mg of Melatonin at bedtime. It relaxes you so you can sleep. It is harmless (I even give it to my dog during the 4th of July). Ask the nurse.