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After my husband was hospitalized we had a visiting nurse and both a physical therapist and an occupational therapist for just a few visits. If I had to help my husband out of a chair, I could do that pretty easily without hurting either of us. But when he needed help getting out of bed--or actually the sitting up part--there was a problem. I was in a twisted position which didn't seem too good for me. The occupational therapist was the most helpful, but not very. She suggested I kneel on the bed and get ahold of him and pull. The idea was to prevent me from hurting my back, but it was awkward and there wasn't always room to kneel. So this is what I do now when and if I need to help. In addition to the regular bed sheets, I fold another twin sheet lengthwise in half. I place this across the bed just below the pillows. We both sleep on this extra sheet which is under us from about our necks to the top of the hip area. If he cannot get up at all, I remove the top covers, go around to his side of the bed and gather up the two ends of this extra sheet. Then I bend my knees a little bit and on the count of " three" I pull. (Usually he is on his side, so I place the hand of his top arm under the extra sheet, and he gives whatever little push he can on the count of three.) It never fails. Once in a great while we have to try twice. Then as an added benefit, if he cannot hold is balance to sit up, I sit on the ends of the sheet and that holds him up while I give him the first pill of the day. My back is fine and I hope this may prove a helpful idea for someone else. Carol Horner, cg; Walter 74/21