The fateful day arrived when I was told I had to stop work. I was seeing my specialist cardio nurse Kirsty last week and during a discussion about changes to some of the medication she went to seek advice from the registrar (not the one treating me). Because of the next staged increase of some of them he also said I should not be driving anymore, until after surgery (I hope). So armed with the sad news I made an appointment to see my GP. I left feeling dismal and clutching a "Statement of fitness to work" which stated I wasn't. Only the civil service could give a title so at odds with the purpose of the form.
I sat at the computer and downloaded the necessary forms. It's all uncharted waters for me from here on, but that's probably true of a lot of people who will read this. After a little time looking round the Directgov site I am left with the idea that my income for the time ahead will sit at roughly one fifth of the amount of my outgoings. So by the time all matters are resolved I will have insufficient capital (if any) to be solvent enough to hold the licences for my coaches. The government require me to have untouched and unneeded funds to show I can resolve any emergencies that arise. So realistically this is the end of my company. Happy days for me.
You may understand why there is not a lot of the usual humour in this post now.
I dont know quite what to say, other than that the system is so shit and wrong. You've worked hard and now the State repays you (or rather, doesn't) like this. I wont go off on a rant, but god it makes me angry.
Mo, the surgery will be done at a specialist heart unit, not my local hospital but it's not too far (especially not by Canadian standards of 'far') and the target of our NHS is within 18 weeks of being referred to there. I will see my consultant on July 19th and that's when he will discuss/decide with me what's to be done now I have had the final Rubidium heart scan - that one was NOT nice btw!!
After that it's going to be a year before I get my big licence back although i can still drive my car in the from 6 wks after surgery. I only get it back if I can pass a treadmill test though and with my useless back problems that is a doubt. I saw my orthopaedic doctor the other week and he said he wasn't prepared to put me under anaesthetic for a 2 hour operation before the heart op. Hopefully I can get the spinal op done in the recovery period of the first op and get back to work like Steve Austin.
