[For background’s sake, I’ll note that at the State Fair of Texas the last couple of years, Ami has had me try out the various Tempur-Pedic mattresses on display, and we’ve always liked them. We sort of decided last fall that when our mattress wore out, we’d probably try that next.]

Here’s the story: For the last year or so, our bed had gotten progressively more uncomfortable. It was a Sealy pillowtop that was nice when we got it about 10 years ago, but had started to present problems to both Ami and I. For me, I was waking up most mornings with sore hips and shoulders. Ami also found it stiff and uncomfortable. We definitely needed something new.

So we decided to get a memory foam bed. We wanted Tempur-Pedic, but we researched them and found out how expensive they were. I also saw that there were several “off-brand” memory foam mattresses that cost much less than Tempur-Pedic. Some even had decent to very good reviews, as was the case with the mattress we selected from Costco. I have to say that generally, I liked it. It wasn’t hot like most memory foam mattresses, and we were able to use our existing sheets. But over time, I started to develop a new set of back problems that were WORSE than with the old mattress. Ami liked it pretty well, but I was miserable, and had mostly given up sleeping on it.

Then Ami had her stroke. During the week afterward, I decided we needed a more permanent solution. So we took it back, and got back on the old Sealy. That was Thursday. On Friday, Ami had minor outpatient surgery. I brought her home, put her on the Sealy, and went out bed shopping with the kids. Understand now, that I had a sick, miserable wife at home who’d just suffered a stroke and who I was very worried about. She was uncomfortable on the Sealy, so I made a rash decision and bought a Tempur-Pedic Rhapsody bed on Saturday. This was MOSTLY because I irrationally thought that maybe if she was sleeping better at night, we could reduce her risk of another stroke (stupid, right?).

Right away, there was trouble.

I initially loved the Rhapsody. It felt like sleeping on a cloud, and I was sleeping all night for the first time in a couple of years. But it WAS pretty hot to sleep in. And Ami hated it. She had trouble finding a comfortable position, and if she slept on her side, whatever side she was on was numb when she woke up the next morning. Not exactly an experience you want to have every night a week or so after a stroke.

Here I’ll ask a question. Did you know that mattress stores don’t allow returns for refunds? I didn’t. And they all promote their “90-day comfort guarantee,” but you can only return your bed for store credit, not cash.

Ami was a trooper, and tried for nearly five weeks to sleep on the Rhapsody. In that time, I kind of learned to hate it, too. I started having some sort of problem with my left knee that I suspect had something to do with the way that leg sank into the mattress. And it was so HOT. Worse, Ami was unhappy, and I felt like it was my fault. Worst of all, we found a Simmons mattress we both really loved at another store, but the chain we bought our Tempur-Pedic from didn’t carry it and wouldn’t order it for us.

Finally, it was enough. Last weekend, we went back to the “mattress firm” and tried out pretty much everything. Eventually, we settled on a ridiculously huge Sealy innerspring mattress with a pillow top. The good news was that it cost much less than the Tempur-Pedic. After much negotiation, the store agreed to refund the difference. We’re only a week in, but so far so good. At least we both sleep O.K., and I don’t have any pain in the mornings.

But don’t be surprised if you find us on that Simmons when you come to visit in 2020. That’ll be about as soon as we can afford to try this again.