hospital bed at home

I've just had a quick google and the dimensions seem to be around 960 mm x 2230 mm to 1119mm x 2286 mm for an adjustable bed with side bars so bigger than a standard single bed, especially in length.  

No idea if they have to be downstairs or not but I imagine it would be quite a task to get one upstairs..

Hope you are doing alright purplebeana 

Hiloa x

Awww if only I had read your post a little earlier I had the service engineer doing routine maintenance on ours here - I could have asked him.

I will go and measure ours.  We live in a bungalow so upstairs doesn't come into it. I have my mothers in a bay off her lounge and have now moved a single bed next to it for my father.  We have just had an overhead hoist fitted as well.

Will be back in a minute.

Kathy xx

Thanks, I've just said yes to it being ordered.  I'll do some measuring at the weekend to see where it would best go.  The District Nurse told me this morning that it comes in bits and they put it together when they deliver it.  So it maybe possible to take it upstairs - she said that some people put it in a spare room out of the way so it must be possible.  But it does need to be built up in the room it's ultimately going to be used in so need to think about where J would want to be based.  We'll talk about it this weekend. Sadly, J has gone downhill significantly over the last few weeks and has been in hospital a couple of times (which he hated and doesn't want to do again).  He was discharged on Sunday and has been noticeably frailer and more tired since he came home.  He can still manage the stairs fortunately but he is beginning to have trouble getting up from seated on his own so I don't think it will be long till he can't manage them.  Only eating a very small amount every day.

I seem to be spending lots of my time hovering around him with a glass of juice in my hand to make him drink something and organising his social calendar for his friends coming from all over the country to see him (to say goodbye really).  It does perk him up having people over, so that's good and does give me a bit of a break if they take him out (or sit with him so I can go out).  But, barring a miracle, I think we are in the final few days/weeks now.  I'm just taking it a day at a time, focussing on him and the practicalities.  Fortunately have good friends (one of which has just restocked my freezer with home made food), GP and District Nurses have been fab.  But hard, hard, hard to see him like this (as many of you will know from your own experience, sadly).

Thanks Kathy, I think we cross posted.  That would be helpful.

Yep, mum's is about 110cm x 230cm and Dad says he can't think why it couldn't come dismantled - the mattress is inflatable so that is easy to get upstairs and the frame comes in two halves and bolts together.

Just check with the OT at the hospital - she will be the one ordering it on prescription.

Hooray for good (and thoughtful) friends!  I am glad you have a good support network but am so sorry to hear that J's so much more frail in the space of a few weeks.  

With so many visitors and the caring you must be feeling worn out so I hope you do manage to get a little bit of time for yourself and some quiet time for just the two of you as well.

Look after yourself and we are here if you need some extra support x

Hi there.

My dad had his upstairs at first but then we moved it downstairs to the front room (they had a seperate dining room) because he became totally bedbound and found it too isolating being upstairs away from everyone and everyday life. We had a commode in there too as his mobillity became so poor. It worked well for him and mum with carers coming in to do the 'personal' stuff.

Good luck.

Zute xx

Thanks for all your replies.  There is a lot to think about and not just space.   We only have two rooms downstairs a reasonably large lounge and a kitchen/ dining room.  Unfortunately you need to go through the lounge to get to the kitchen. 

I need to think through the upstairs/ downstairs plans.  I can see that he maybe isolated upstairs as he becomes confined to his bed. But the problem with him being downstairs would be the noise and interruption.  He has been sleeping a lot over the last few days but he likes it to be completely dark and quiet.  He has become very sensitive to noise - the two things he hated most about hospital were the uncomfortable bed and the constant noise.  So making him sleep in a hospital bed in a place where he is likely to be disturbed by anyone coming to the house, or me wanting to e.g make a cup of tea seems a bit harsh - the whole point of staying at home is that you can be more comfortable after all.  Being in a room out of the way, where the door can be closed and the lights switched off would be much more helpful to him. 

On the other hand having him confined upstairs isn't ideal either and I can see that would be very isolating.  I'm not even sure yet if that would be possible.  Maybe I just need to work out how to keep the lounge as quiet as possible, encourage people to come to the backdoor so that they come into the kitchen and don't come through the lounge.  I can see me constantly nipping round the outside of the house from back door to front to get from kitchen to bathroom without disturbing him! Oh well, can take up to a week to arrive so hopefully time to mull it over before it comes.

I think the bed downstairs might be easier in the long run if you can get everyone visiting to go via the back/kitchen door.

My husband had a hospital bed and we  previously had a through living/dining room so there was a bit of a rush to get a wall made up before the bed arrived. It's not just him being isolated upstairs that you have to think about but also you going up and down the stairs repeatedly to get things for him and, if you are like me, to pop in and check he is all right if he's been asleep a while. Also, if there is a crisis it would be easier to get an ambulance crew to move him from a downstairs room rather than one upstairs, although they could, of course, still manage upstairs if you both feel that is best.

It depends on how big your kitchen/diner is too. We were lucky in that we could make our dining area into a separate room so that the 5 of us could use it as a living room. We would have struggled squashed into our relatively small kitchen. But if the kitchen is big enough for you to have a chair in and get your own space when your husband needs quiet then you wouldn't have to worry about disturbing him.

Whatever you decide, I am sure friends and family who visit will do their best to make it workable.

Bed has arrived and has gone upstairs - for anyone interested it is about 105cm by 210cm.  Not been used yet, will see if I can persuade him in tomorrow.