When my mother have to be placed on tube feeding, we had to purchase various items quickly including hospital bed, oxygen concentrator, phlegm suction machine, hand restraints (as my mom have Alzheimer’s), wheelchair, gait belt, carry bag, anti bed sore pillow as well as items such as adult diapers, suction tubes and other medical supplies.
There is a one stop center located in Bangkok where we got all our medical supplies from. It is known as Diamond Pharmacy and it is located near Siriraj Hospital (the main hospital in Bangkok).
The pharmacy is also known locally as Petcharat Pharmacy This helps if you stay in Bangkok so that you need not go to various places to purchase different items separately.
Hence, if suddenly a member of your family is unwell, injured or become bed bound and you need to quickly set up the place, if you are staying in Bangkok, I would recommend going to Diamond Pharmacy.
There are 2 floors- the ground floor mainly sells medication while the upper floor carries various medical supplies like hospital bed, wheelchair, walkers, bedside commode, diapers, and rehabilitation products.
In the picture above, we switched her bed to hospital bed. We ordered the bed from the pharmacy and it was delivered to our place before my mom was discharged from hospital. Once she got discharged, we have set up the room for her to stay in.
Here are the list of items we have purchased from Diamond Pharmacy (you get an idea of the vast variety of items they have available):
- hospital bed (there are a few types but we went with the manual turning. They also have electrical ones)
- wheelchair
- oxygen concentrator (and the cannula tube)
- phlegm suction machine and the tubes
- nasogastric tube (they sell both the silicon and plastic. I recommend silicon tube as it produces less phlegm)
- plaster (3M and
- adult diapers, lining, incontinence pads- we renew our supplies from there as the price is cheaper than Makro.
- hand restraints and hand mittens (under Maysa Medical brand) which can be put on long term
- gait belt for transfer from bed to wheelchair and vice versa. I rely on the gait belt to transfer my mom
- anti bed sore pillows and carry bag to prevent sliding (elderly love to slide down the bed) (from Mitex.th brand). The anti bed sore pillow is so comfortable that I bought another one for myself to sit on.
What I am amazed is because they carry specialty items that is hard to find at other places. For example, the hand mittens is a real life saver. One of the biggest challenges when placing an Alzheimer’s patient on tube feeding (when they develop dysphagia) is that we cannot reason with them not to pull out the tube.
The hand mittens by Maysa medical is a real lifesaver. It enables my mother to be placed on tube feeding by covering her fingers and preventing her from pulling out her nasogastric tube.
I also bought a carry sheet to move my mom on the bed:
Actually, I was not aware that these products existed. We just relayed the challenges we had, example how to prevent my mom from pulling out the tube, how to move her in bed if single person or do bed-wheelchair transfers and the sales person was able to offer various products to solve our dilemma.
For example, I have to transfer my mom from bed to wheelchair and vice versa. Anyone who tried to move a person with dementia or Alzheimer’s would know it is hard. They usually would not cooperate and would tense their body. I am lifting her on my own and the gait belt below is a real life saver.
Also, the anti bed sore pillows is useful to slow down the elderly from sliding down the bed. Especially if on tube feeding, they have to remain at minimum 30 degrees for at least 30 minutes. The longer and more upright they sit, the better. Alzheimer’s person would usually slide.
I find placing the anti bed sore pillow below my mother’s buttocks help to slow down the sliding. This is from a company called Mitex (http://mitex.in.th/).
However, do not leave the pillow under them for too long if it is placed in the bed. As the anti bed sore pillow is meant to be placed on a wheelchair. I just find it helpful as a wedge to prevent sliding downwards after their meal. It is very dangerous for an elderly person who is on nasogastric tube feeding to slide down as it can cause food from the stomach to regurgitate and go into the lungs resulting in aspiration pneumonia.