Hi everyone, I thought I would do a quick update of life at the moment!
I have had to sign on at local Jobcentre as not able to go back to the job I had been doing due to standing for 7 hours a day. Although I have my compression stocking for the lymphoedema in my right lower leg/foot I can't wear them for too long because unfortunately where the compression part comes in across the ankle it cuts right across my skin graft! So, still confined to wearing size 9 Croc's at the moment (not quite Office wear lol). It was suggested at my initial interview that I have an appointment with the Disability Advisor to see what kind of work I CAN do and was told not to worry about looking for work until I had that appointment. I went to sign on today and mentioned I hadn't heard from the DA and it's now a month since they said they would sort an appointment out! Lo and behold I now have an appointment for tomorrow at 1pm. The man I saw today asked "why have you been out of work for so long?" in an accusary tone and you should have seen his face when I told him I had Cancer! I also told him that although I had been told not to worry about looking for work until I had been seen by DA I had in fact applied for two jobs and was waiting to see if I would be called for an interview. I do hate the way these people judge the person sitting in front of them, they don't know me or my story so why treat me as a scrounger??? What annoys me is that I'm jumping through all their hoops and giving them lots of personal information but as of yet I don't know if I have been awarded Jobseeker's Allowance!
I finally got around to sending my letter of complaint to the out of county hospital where I had my surgery and according to the hospital's own website I was meant to get a letter of acknowledgement from the Chief Executive within 2 working days. Hmm, 2 WEEKS went by and I still hadn't heard anything so I then emailed to the Chief Exec that I was waiting for an acknowledgement of my complaint and actually cut and pasted from their website their own guidelines on the procedure, I also let slip that I had seen my notes and had copies of some of the pages that were of interest to me, lol. Within 3 days I had the letter! Yesterday I received an invitation to become a trustee member of the hospital to help address problems etc as it is a Foundation Hospital. Wonders will never cease!
I will be spending Easter with my daughters and their father and as I mentioned in my last blog my eldest is getting married in October (we only were told a month ago!!) so she will be trying on yet more wedding dresses which is something to look forward to. Whatever stage you are at with your journeys I hope that you will be able to enjoy time with your loved ones at this time too.
Take care
pheonix xxx
FormerMember
Hi Phoenix,
Nice to hear from you, it seems to have been a while.
Good luck at the job centre. I should think you've been out of work long enough to qualify for some sort of vocational training so why not take advantage of that? Surely you must get job-seekers allowance. Surely!
Yeah dealing with government entities is a bear! I remember my Mom's lymphodemia and her subsequent disability and the person asked her when she would be "cured". She called me so hysterical she couldn't even get out what had happened. I made a few phone calls, it wasn't pleasant for them. Idiots.
Anyway, great news on your daughter getting married. How wonderfully fun is that! I'm so happy for you and for her.
Hi Pheonix, I was wonderng where you had got too. I always look out for your blogs, so you have been missed. Im glad that you have go this far & good luck in your job hunt.
I totally sympathise with your fight to the point that I burst into tears reading about your trials. I am in a different situation to you but it angers me the hoops you have to jump through to get some financial help while you are going through this. The only thing I have really worried about since I was diagnosed is money because I am on my own and are totally independant. I have always worked and are still employed on long term sick leave. My wage has dropped to half pay and will cease soon, I was sent a 50 page booklet to apply for employment support allowance which used to be incapacity benefit before apparently, I found the form impossible and I am no thicko! I just feel that anybody going through something like this should be given help financially as that is the last thing you need to worry about. They don't consider your life as it was, i.e. your bills are not just mortgage and utility bills as a working person you may have loans to pay off etc which add to your outgoings but these are not considered. You are made to feel like a scrounger when in fact you have paid your dues and only expect a temporary help until you can earn again. I think the government need to rethink the way they give out benefits to people with illnesses, even though they have included cancer in the disability act it doesn't seem to make any difference. We can only be grateful that they have allowed us free prescriptions at long last but only for 5 years then we have to prove no doubt that we still need the medication to suppliment the after effects of cancer treatment. It is a scandal and thank god for MacMillan who sent me a grant this week to contribute to dog walking fees, another expense brought on by cancer which is not considered by the dhss, we should of course give up our pets if we cannot walk them as I was told, how ridiculous I need my dog around me more than ever now and as I say if it was not for MacMillan I do not know what I would have had to do to find the money to take care of this additional financial burden that cancer has brought to me.
I'm so glad you have highlighted this and wish you all the success you deserve, do let us know how you get on.
