Sunday, March 9, 2008

Parkinson's and the Art of Getting Out of Bed

Many PWP have trouble getting in and out of bed and Keith is no different. Well, actually he is. PD has not progressed enough in Keith to really give him much trouble with movement and getting up and down. The problem stems from co-sleeping. Over the course of the past year we have had to adjust our sleeping arrangements to accommodate our daughter and to safely co-sleep. Currently our mattress is on the floor with her crib mattress right next to it, wedged between us and the wall. This is our safest option for now, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for Keith to get in and out of bed.

Getting in the bed is not so bad; it's getting up that's the problem. He usually has to roll over from his back right onto the floor, on his hands and knees. The he grabs the doorknob and tries to hoist himself up. It doesn't work very well. We have a flimsy little table next to the bed, but that barely holds the alarm clock. I think I'm going to put a sturdy chair there for now. That would be low enough for him to really grasp on to from his kneeling position on the floor, but strong enough to hold him.

I've been thinking also about having someone build some type of railing that he can grab. I'm just not sure how that would work. I'm afraid to attach anything to the wall because the house is sooooo old - not sure it would hold. But since we don't use the bed frame right now, I don't know how we could attach a railing to the bed. I guess we could build it from the floor up. (??)

If anyone has any ideas on what and how to build some type of railing, let me know! I certainly would appreciate it!

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