Mattress Matters

I spend most of my time in bed. It is where I can change positions easily and my computer is most accessible. Doing my medical cares are also easiest when laying down, so it's where I spend my time. Therefore, I use my air mattress a lot and depend on it being stable.

Unfortunately, the mattress I was using was around 10 years old and was sinking in whenever I sat. In January, I started working on a replacement. Not all air mattresses are made to be able to sit, and finding a provider turned out to be quite a challenge. In June, I was introduced to another equipment supplier that had mattress options I could use.

The next few months were spent on paperwork and several weeks of silence. The person I started working with left the company and nobody contacted me to follow-up. Finally, early this month, I received my new mattress and dad got it setup on my bed. After 11 months' of work, I was glad to be finished and looked forward to no leaks and sinking. However, the joy didn't last very long.

It has now been three weeks since I started using the new system and most of my caregivers, and I, don't like it. No matter what position I'm in, I sink in and am hard to reposition. When I sit, the mattress has a special "sit mode" that we are all having trouble remembering to turn on and off.

When dad investigated my old mattress, he found a hose with a hole when I was sitting. He swapped it around with another one and likely fixed the issue, within an hour. 

So far, I haven't heard of switching back to my old mattress. It's frustrating that the new one wasn't a better solution, but I guess I learned what not to get. Such is the quad life, but I'm thankful to have options to try and at least have a good backup if, or when, it's needed.