Dealing with change

Hi Abrn,

Really sorry to read about how you are feeling at the moment. I think you have hit the nail on the head, the biggest mental battle re: cancer is how to deal with change. I think you have to be incredibly lucky not to have cancer affect you in some way. Loss of control was a hard one for me. Please don’t give yourself a hard time, it can take a while to work things through. I spent the best part of 18 months off work and it can bring its financial challenges - Macmillan has some financial guides if this would maybe help?

Wishing you all the best

Greg

i have just returned to work after nearly a year off. I got full pay for the first 6 months then my pay was cut to half. I contacted Macmillan and was told i could apply for ESA, Employment Support Allowance, I had to go to the job centre to prove i was poorly. The poor fella who did the interview was full of apologies but explained it was what they had to do. I got £73.10 a week for the first 6 months then it went up to £111 i think, i never got this amount as i returned to work the week it was due to be paid.

The good thing about it is you only have to send in one sick note as once you are assessed to receive it they only reassess you every 6 months.

There is an the ESA helpline 0800 169 0310 they will send you out a form to fill in, that asks lots of silly questions but worth it to get the extra help. Give them a ring and see what they say.