Sharing Personal Experiences
about Disability and Homecare

I never dreamed I would ever find myself struggling with an 80 year old man to keep him from getting out of bed. Lo and behold that's exactly the situation that I found myself in a few weeks ago.

He had been begging the nurses to let him out of his hospital bed to go to the bathroom, and the nurses kept insisting that he use his diaper instead because he was too unstable on his feet. Well, he was determined to get up out of that bed, regardless of the bed rail that prevented him from doing so.

When the nurses left the room the contest began. He must have tried dozens of different contortions to lift his legs over the bed rail and pull himself out of the bed--all to no avail. After each attempt he'd fall back on the bed exhausted, but after a few minutes would start all over to try to free himself from his captivity. To my utter astonishment, he finally managed to squeeze his legs between a small opening at the foot of the bed where the bed rail didn't quite reach, and with supreme effort got himself to a standing position on the floor. When I recovered from my surprise at his ingenuity and perseverance I jumped up to get him to sit down in bed once again, explaining to him how dangerous it was since he had already fallen when trying to walk. I called the nurses and explained what had happened. The next thing I knew they were pushing a commode on wheels into the room to transport that one determined patient to "do his thing" in the comfort and privacy of the bathroom.