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My brother is bed-bound and his dementia is worsening. He cannot stand, and is Hoyer-lifted to a wheelchair for a couple hours several times a week. He has been bed bound 2 years and lives in a pretty nice care facility. Not long ago he tried to exit the bed on his own for the first time and fell to the hard wood floor. Then a week later it happened again.
We talked about it. He imagines he has to get to work, or is late for classes at the university, or wants to take a trip. He does know he can't walk, but he forgets.
His doctor requisitioned a Hi-Lo bed that the caregivers can lower to inches off the floor for safety when they leave the room, and I ordered a cushioning mat for the floor. These measures have really helped. However, the bed is too short for him and his foot presses against the footboard. We ordered a bed extender (4 inches) but the bed still seems too short.
This bed seems lower quality than his original bed in several respects, but it is what his insurance plan approved for him.
I am investigating the possibility of buying a larger Hi-Lo bed from Agiliti (formerly Sizewise). Does anyone have experience with buying a patient's own bed vs renting one? At this point I don't care what the insurance approves; he basically lives in his bed and I want to get something nice.

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Check with the facility he's in and ask if you are allowed to bring in outside DME's. I can only think they'd be OK with something so vital as the bed he basically lives in.

The go for it--something nice you can do for brother who sounds very ill and challenged.

My own DH is 6'5" and even the xl beds in hospitals are actually painful for him to be in, when he's been hospitalized. His feet hit the bottom of the bed frame and cause massive muscle spasms. Luckily he was up and down all day, but he'd look at those 'short' beds and want to cry, knowing within minutes of getting back in bed, he'd be in pain from head to toe.

Be sure to get a really nice mattress, one that has the alternating pressure point 'air pockets'. Takes the stress off one spot so bedsores are much less likely to occur.

Good Luck. You are a good brother!!
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Questor Jun 2023
Thanks for the supportive comment! I’m sorry to hear your DH suffers so much from the hospital beds. I know the doctors and nurses have a hard job, but they often don’t seem able or willing to help people who don’t fit their norms.
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I worked for a bed manufacturer. XL twins are 80 inches long. The average twin mattress is 39/75. So if a man is 6'5 (77 in) he should have some wiggle room but then his head needs to be on the headboard. Not sure if you can get longer than 80 in. If you can, it will cost you. Queens and Kings are only 80 in. 75 and 80 inches are standard. Anything else is custom.

I may call a bedding manufacture to run this buy them. You maybe able to get a mattress but will u be able to get a hospital bed frame?
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Questor Jun 2023
Thank you JoAnn. The original bed was 80 inches long and we got an extender that made it 84 inches. It seems like that should be long enough (he’s about 72 or 73 inches in height, standing). I guess he may be sliding down a little when the head of the bed is elevated, and also since he’s lying down his feet are pointing down, not flat like they are when someone measures your height, which makes him a little longer.
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What about removing the foot board completely, or at least lowering below mattress height? And replace the mattress with a better one?
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JoAnn29 Jun 2023
On an adjustable bed, the footboard is needed to keep the mattress from slipping off the bed when the head of the bed is put in a seating position.
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