Sitting up is a bit tricky for me, you need a feeling for it and it is helpful if you have an eye for whether I am sitting up straight or hanging crookedly in the ropes. As a rule of thumb you can remember:
No matter in which direction my head falls (left, right, forward, back), you pull me or move the back of the bed to the exact opposite direction. I sit correctly as soon as I can hold my head upright independently.
Turn the head quickly and without stopping in the middle (!) to the other side to loosen mucus.
Suction. Deep. Keep it coming. Seriously, I'll give the signal when we're done. At the end, please suck both cheeks and the mouth thoroughly dry, because otherwise the whole suction is fucked.
Please don't poke around haphazardly and wildly for 5 seconds and ask "Good?" twenty times. If I haven't given you a sign yet, it's not good (yet).
If my mouth and throat aren't dry as a fart when I start up, I give you my seal of approval that mucus will slide towards my lungs. It also slides into my lungs so badly in this half-slanted position that I can only get it out again with difficulty and in a sideways position. You can cancel the rest of my appointments for today. The day is over for me if that happens. It's just unnecessary and annoying.
The starting position when sitting down is logically on the back. Anything else would make little sense.
Turn my head to the middle.
Adjust the lower straps of the mask tighter, so that they are actually to fixed are. The change in head position while sitting will make it just right. Please do it now. Not after you've sat me up and I've already had to manage with half ventilation for a minute.
Especially when eating, the mask should also fit very tightly. The slightest bit of leakage triggers ventilation. If this happens when swallowing, it pushes the food into the airways.
Take the middle (small) pillow away and put it aside ready to hand.
Now place me straight and in the middle of the back (you can orientate yourself on the rail of the ceiling lift). The straighter you lay me down in preparation, the easier it will be for you to sit me up straight.
My hands you put in my lap.
If you raise the bed a little, it will probably make the next steps a little easier. It's best to try it out for yourself.
Please raise the foot section of the bed all the way up. And by all means, before the headboard is moved. If I slide even a single centimetre towards the footrest when I sit up, I won't be able to swallow properly. Believe me, that's really the case.
Now you may raise the headboard of the bed all the way up without a break (!)....
... and then immediately let my head hang down forward unsupported (!!!). This is the only way I can breathe and swallow and prevent secretions from running into my lungs.
Now you may raise the headboard of the bed all the way up without a break (!)....
That is also often forgotten and I am then allowed to hear that I am having a bad day. No, when the entire upper body is pressed into the mattress, I'm really sorry, because then I can neither breathe nor swallow. How am I supposed to eat?
Now pull my back out of the mattress or lift me out. Don't worry, I won't fall forward and stretching never hurt anyone. The main thing is that I sit upright and straight in bed afterwards.
Before you start haphazardly stuffing pillows everywhere and uncoordinatedly pulling and pushing me from left to right and then from right to left again - if this didn't happen all the time, I wouldn't stress it so much - please think about what the problem is first. I bet you 10,- € that you sat me down crooked. ?
When my head falls to the left, my shoulder has to move more to the right. Usually it is enough to pull the right shoulder a little forward. If my head falls to the right, then I have to move to the left. Logical, isn't it? I don't know why almost everyone tries to stabilise a body falling to the left by pushing me even more to the left. That doesn't make it any better ...
Now you support my head a little with your hand, but my head always hangs slightly forward and never (!) backwards, then you move the back of the bed back down until I give you a sign with my eyes.
Depending on my condition and the shape of the day, we usually end up leaning somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees. Except for dental care, when I sit much flatter so that I can open my mouth. I'll go into more detail on the subject of eating and drinking.
Place arms and hands wide again as a support next to the body.
If my head falls forward, then I'm sitting too steeply. Move the back back a bit more.
If my head falls back, then I'm sitting too flat. Raise the bed a little.
If I can hold my head, then I am sitting correctly. But I can't hold my head up by myself for long, so I support it with the two pillows. But only enough so that my head is still straight. It's really no use stuffing pillows into my neck until my head falls forward again. On the photo you can see that it works very well if you follow my instructions. Place your hands parallel to your body and at a distance from your sides. That's it.
