Help getting started for someone spending more time in bed

I hate to post such a broad post, especially for my first post. I’m a 43 year old paraplegic and I’m only about 110 pounds. My wife is about my size. A few months ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. I’ve been battling this with chemo which has landed me in bed a lot. Also, I was strictly a stomach sleeper until this point. Now I have so much stomach pain that I spend much of my time on my sides. This has quickly left me with sore shoulders. Nights are already restless due to random pain and problems with the chemo and I’ve become quickly aware that I need a different mattress that will be more forgiving for side sleeping as well as all around comfort.

I definitely wouldn’t be against having something that is adjustable but I would really like to keep the cost down. I had seen a great review on the Novaform Memory Foam Collection Serafina 14" @ Costco. While browsing their website I also saw the Sleep Science 10" Memory Foam Queen Mattress with Adjustable Base which my wife thought might be useful. I for sure want to keep it under $2000 while $1000 sounds very good. At the same time, I need better sleep and want to get a good mattress for my needs which have been a bit extreme in the amount of hours in bed.

I’m hoping to cut through some of the hours of research and someone point me in the right direction for my needs.
EDIT - I forgot to mention initially that I’m in the Dallas/Ft Worth area (Sachse to be precise). Maybe this will help in info given. :slight_smile:

Hi jaypugh,

The first place I would start is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

I would be very cautious about using reviews or other people’s experiences (especially if they are not particularly knowledgeable about mattresses which is the case with almost all consumers that write reviews) as a guideline for what may work best for you (see post #13 here). What works well for someone else may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on. I would also be very cautious about choosing a mattress which had 3" of 3 lb memory foam in the comfort layers which is a lower quality and less durable material than higher density memory foam. You can see some of the foam quality/density guidelines I would suggest in post #4 here.

If you are considering an adjustable bed with your mattress I would consider them to be two separate purchases. I would choose the mattress first because that’s the most important part of the combination and then choose an adjustable bed based on comparisons between cost vs features that are important to you. There is more about choosing an adjustable bed in post #3 here and the adjustable bed thread it links to. If it turns out that both of them are the ones that you would otherwise choose (both the mattress and the base) after you have compared each of them to the other options you have available then of course it would make sense to buy them together.

There is also more about Sleep Science in general in post #2 here and the Emma 10" mattress in particular in post #2 here. Once again I would avoid any mattress that used more than about an inch or so of 3 lb memory foam.

While it appears you are leaning towards memory foam … I’m not sure if that’s by “default” or because you believe it’s a better material than other options that are available to you or if you actually prefer it compared to other comfort materials that you have tried. If you haven’t tested other types of materials I would take some time to do some testing to confirm which type of mattresses and materials you tend to prefer. Memory foam, polyfoam, latex foam, are the most common foam materials used in comfort layers and innersprings of various types, polyfoam, and latex are the most common support components and each combination will have differences between how they feel and perform that can fit the needs and preferences of different people.

Post #4 here also has more about buying a mattress from Costco.

The better local options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Dallas/Ft Worth area are listed in post #4 here.

Phoenix