14 replies to this topic

[Hopeful]

My husband is almost two years out in his recovery from a C5 incomplete SCI. We are moving to a more accessible home soon. We have been sleeping in separate rooms and want to get back into the same bedroom. I have several areas I would like to have advice on if anyone has some input to offer . . . What type of beds have worked for you and where do you buy them. We will want a bed that can raise and lower levels. Also . . .
My husband wears an external condom cath. Accidents happen sometimes and i do not want to wake up getting wet. So, I am thinking we would need to get two beds and put them togetner, or are there other ways we can sleep in a one piece king size and create some type of barrier that would keep my side dry? Also, we would have just created a nightime foley bag with an extension so the bag could be placed at the bottom of the bed. My husband said there may be a risk of getting tangled in the longer cord, any ideas on that? Thank you for any input?

[davidsons]

hi im c5 c6 18mts now.my wife and i sleep in the same room on different beds. i have a hospital type bed that adjusts . its a difficult journey but a good wife helps

[Travelling Blackbird]

I've always used a double bed with two mattresses side-by side, separate fitted sheets, separate duvets, etc. That's always been enough to keep me and the other person close enough to feel intimate, but separate enough so we can both sleep despite anything my body might do in the night.

[Hopeful]

davidson, on 06 November 2010 - 12:50 PM, said:

hi im c5 c6 18mts now.my wife and i sleep in the same room on different beds. i have a hospital type bed that adjusts . its a difficult journey but a good wife helps

Thanks for sharing. I think we will go with the separate beds too.

Travelling Blackbird, on 06 November 2010 - 02:44 PM, said:

I've always used a double bed with two mattresses side-by side, separate fitted sheets, separate duvets, etc. That's always been enough to keep me and the other person close enough to feel intimate, but separate enough so we can both sleep despite anything my body might do in the night.

Thanks for sharing. We will probably go for two beds side by side, one hospital and one regular. Does anyone have any recommendations in bed brands to buy?

[airart1]

might do the one that u can adjust each side, arent they seperate beds actually? cant think of the name, hate getting old!

[MDK]

airart1, on 07 November 2010 - 02:34 PM, said:

might do the one that u can adjust each side, arent they seperate beds actually? cant think of the name, hate getting old!

We have an "European bed" that does that perhaps is such an option where you live?
http://www.europeanbedding.com.au/

Good luck,
Mioara

[snowqueeneh]

I tried different things and waisted my money. In the end... we sleep on our regular old queen mattress. We sleep together every night. I just prop him with a few pillows when we watch T.V. It actually feels wonderful to be in our good old bed. I'm not sure if this would work for you but it has for us. He doesn't get any pressure soars and it's been over a year.

[Spinner]

I would recommend a Tempur-Pedic mattress. When we spend the night together, we share a king size Temper-Pedic that is incredibly comfortable for both of us and is very good to his skin. He is over six feet and there is plenty of room for both of us. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Edited by Spinner, 17 November 2010 - 02:06 PM.

[kjm465]

We share a regular queen-sized bed as well. When we decided it was time for a new one, we went to Sleep Country and spent several hours transfering in and out of different beds until we found the right one. The staff were super nice about it. We explained our particular needs and they gave us sound, honest advice.

We do also have a second bed in the spare room that I use for an hour or so when the caregivers come in the mornings. Believe me, THAT was worth investing in!

[tbl]

Hi there
We have two twins pushed together to create a king. Separate mattress protectors and fitted sheets, but king size flat sheet and comforter. Both beds are adjustable, which is nice when we are watching tv or having a snack. We have tempur memory foam mattresses, which is good for preventing pressure sores. My husband finds it a bit hot after a while, but he's always been on the warm side when sleeping. He uses a night drainage bag with condom cath, we've not yet had a problem on my mattress when something has leaked. I got a few extra fitted sheets so that we had extra clean and on hand. Regular twin sheets don't fit. We got it from sleep country and absolutely love it!

[sbrown955]

My daughter has a wonderful hydraulic bed with a tempur-pedic-knockoff mattress that is wonderful--no sores at all. Right now I'm also working as a caregiver for an elderly couple who have a king-sized box spring that has two twin mattresses on top. They went to that arrangement years ago and it's worked for them. So, maybe a wonderful hydraulic bed like my daughter's (not a hospital bed--bought it in a furniture shop) with two twin mattresses instead of one king-sized.

[sjh11]

Hi -
my boyfriend is a c4/5 and we sleep together most nights of the week. he has a bariatric hospital bed, which is pressure relief. At first I thought it was weird that he had a hospital bed in his home, but its actually really nice. If you want to sit up and watch tv, all you have to do is use to remote thingy. It alternates its air distribution every few minutes, and it kinda rocks you to sleep. I like it. He got the bariatric just before we started seeing each other, and its about the size of a regular full bed, and we use queen size sheets. I'm not sure about the condom cath, as he has an indwelling, so I dont need to worry about the accidents at night....so I do not have too much advice there. He (and I) like the indwelling cath for daily life and for intimate stuff, as we do not need to worry about anything in that direct area....(oh yes, his cath is suprapubic, so not in the penis, which i like). Foley bag use is what he does also. When he sleeps on his side he puts the bag on my side of the bed (as it is a hospital bed there are ample places to hook it), so sometimes I lay on top of it, usually putting a draw sheet over it so it doesn't bug me too much.

Hope this is some help to you! Our sleeping situation works out well, and I hope you guys can get it figured out

[kjm465]

Kind of related - we've switched to changing the condom cath twice a day instead of every morning. More pricey, but he hasn't has a nighttime accident since!

[cando]

Hi There. I'm a little late replying, and I'm sure you've come up with a solution by now... but ...my hubby and I INVESTED in a king sized tempur-pedic. This bed consists of two twin sized beds that sit side by side. The beauty of what we did was have a motor on both sides. This way it will raise and lower, but if the husband needs to sit up at night during an autonomic situation, he can...as I lay flat if I want. It also gives us the option of sitting up together if we chose. Each bed is side by side but totally separate, so night time accidents are not issues that I have to fear waking up in the middle of.

Hope this helps. Good luck!!!

[airart1]

boy cando that was like buying a car wasnt it, i looked at them, some of the beds will scare the skin off of ya! my brother has one and the 8 inch thick one was like 4 grand or so here......