The "Tent Bed" Situation

It is very common with TBI's for the survivor to begin to become more aggressive as they become more aware. It is also common for the survivor to become more focused on their more primitive needs (i.e., eating, using the restroom, sometimes even sexual needs as well).

Donte has certainly come a long way in recovery over the past 6 weeks on the Acute Neuro floor, however over the past two weeks, Donte's primary area of fixation has become escaping the hospital. Realistically, he is fully aware of his current physical deficits; he KNOWS that he can not stand or walk on his own and he KNOWS that he has very minimal range of motion (if any) on the left side of his body. However, that does not stop him from making numerous attempts to flee the hospital.

The restraining issue began a few weeks back when Donte still had his trach tube in place. Donte kept touching it because he wanted it removed. That resulted in a mitten being placed on his idle right hand. Donte then figured out that he could reach his right hand to his mouth and remove the mitten. After numerous nurses going into his room bewildered by the fact that the once secured mitten was now floor bound in his room, the mitten was removed for a period of time. In this time Donte figured out that he could reach his right arm over the bed railing and take the railing down enough so that his right leg could hang off the bed. When a nurse found him doing this she asked him why he was doing that and he voiced that he was "trying to escape." That resulted in Donte getting extra bed guards. The bed guards were large, padded and Carolina blue and were wedged in front of and secured behind the actual bed railings to obstruct Donte from pulling down the railing. Donte advised that he "felt like a lab rat." He figured out a way to remove the side bed guards and learned that he could use his right hand to push the button on the side of his bed to lift the side of the bed that his torso tested on far enough so that he could attempt to reach the bottom guards. My mother found him contorted like a pretzel one day while he was attempting to unhinge the bottom guard. After a few attempts of him pulling off the guards, the nursing unit ordered a "tent" bed. This is a bed that is inside of a box with mesh on it and is securable from the outside only. Donte hates this bed and advised that he feels like a "dog in a kennel." Unfortunately for his safety, he will be going to rehab with this contraption. Although I hate to see him in such an uncomfortable situation, I am happy that he is cognitively aware enough to be able to plot an escape and get through two out of three obstructions that the nurses threw at him. Below are some pictures of the mitten and the bed that he is currently in.

Stay safe, Stay strong, Take care and Have HOPE!

Kelli