Hi,
I had PLIF of L5S1 three weeks ago. I came home three days later and have shared a bed since with no problems. I was actually reassured that if I was stuck or wanted help with my pillows etc my Husband was there to help.
If you get a hospital bed will it be plastic coated like the real ones in hospital? I have to say that for me that was the worst thing about my hospital bed becasue it made me sweat so much. The changeable positions of it were great though so I suppose it's six of one and half a dozen of the other.
I don't really know how big your op is and how incapacitated you will be after so I might not be the best person to advise you - I have just used my own experiences.
I am not sure I woulod have coped without my husband at home - he is between jobs at the moment so I have had him at my beck and call. My wound has been infected requiring trips back to hospital and as I can't drive I would have been stuffed without him. It depends on how many people you would have to beg favours from if you needed them. Absolutely get a grabber - if you drop your magazine etc at least you can pick it back up!
Hope your op goes well - I will be thinking of you.

I slept in same bed with hubby after open TLIF. With pain meds didn't even notice him getting in and out of bed. If you can get anyone to come over even for a few minutes to make sure you've got something to eat and made it to the restroom. I was ok by myself but it was only for about 5 hours a day that I was alone. I slept for most of that.

My husband and I purchased a Mi Forma memory foam mattress from Back to Bed. We *LOVE* it. We actually bought it specifically for my recovery. We got 2 memory foam pillows as well. I had no problem sleeping in the same bed as him since this mattress doesn't transfer weight very much.

Same here, MI TLIF and couldn't wait to get home & sleep in my own bed. Had no problem sharing, in fact, slept a lot better than at the hospital, I missed hearing my husband's breathing. Nose over Tail (can I call you NOT, lol?), we'll be investing in a new mattress once we get the tax refunds & considering memory foam since it's been recommended by my OSS (he recommends Tempurpedic) & quite a few others here. I'm not familiar w/ the type you have, will have to see if there is a store nearby. Did you just get the mattress or the box spring as well? I've been told that if you have a platform bed and have a board over the slats you can just use the mattress. I like this idea since it'll less expensive and I won't have to try to climb up into bed like I do now.

Thanks in advance -

My husband was in Iraq during my surgery and recovery - so I'm not an expert on the sharing-bed part.

I have a 3" thick memory foam mattress on top of my regular mattress. It was heavenly after 9 days of hospital bed!

I am an expert on the being alone part though!

I did have some home health care/PT visits after I came home from the hospital - I would ask your dr. about it BEFORE you get discharged post-op. See how you feel and see if you feel you need help.

I honestly LOVED being alone at home afterwards. I could FINALLY sleep. When people are around I just could not relax and rest. That said - I do have to add that I am a rather independent kind of person -so it's in my nature to want to be alone and do things on my own.

I had no trouble doing what I needed to do on my own either. I had my list of Post-op Must Haves and I felt I had it all covered.

Although - friendly SHORT visits from people I love were nice too. I can't stress the SHORT part enough though- you do get tired out very fast afterwards.

Pfd, you can call me NOT if you want, haha. Or you can call me Andrea

The mattress we got is only carried at Back to Bed. It's like a Tempurpedic but it doesn't require body heat to form to your body. We liked this mattress because not only is it super comfortable, but it's also eco friendly. It's made with soy and they package it a certain way so that they can fit more into a truck, less pollution and fewer trips from the warehouse and back.

We got the sales guy to throw in a free pillow and knock our price down a bit. I had a hard time finding information on it online, too. I think your best bet is to go to (or call) a Back to Bed store if you have one in your area. I had my heart set on a Tempurpedic but once I laid on the MiForma my mind was changed. I love it. Ours came with a box spring. When we got it delivered we realized the box spring is one inch too big and won't fit down the stairs. The store is taking it back and giving us a smaller one, and they gave us a discount on the delivery fee by 50%.

I hope that helps. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any more questions. I can't recommend this bed enough!

saltzworks, I am the same way as you are. I enjoy being alone. I had some friends visit me in the hospital and it was really draining. I loved seeing them though, don't get me wrong. I just couldn't handle much more of it. I'm kind of glad I didn't have any more visitors the rest of the time, although my husband did spend every night and day with me to help me with things I can't reach, etc.

I got the BEST nights sleep last night at home. No waking up every 2 hours for meds, or vitals, or drawing blood. It was great.

Thanks for the info on the mattress, I had Googled after posting to you and found the store is in the Chicago area - I'm on the East Coast so won't be able to 'test drive' a Mi Forma. We have a similar problem w/ boxsprings in our home (she's an 84 year old lady) and based on the angles/width of the stairs you just can't get a Queen size regular boxspring up them. We've had to special order a Queen 2 pc boxspring, mattresses aren't a problem since they flex. Appreciate the info, hope you get a good night's rest and feel a lot better tomorrow.