Rae's ESA...

[mrspinkpaws]

LOL We will fight them on the beaches and all that... you go girl! x

[listan]

Hi Rae

Good luck for tomorrow,i can guess how you are feeling right now i had a lady solicitor and a male doctor on my panel and they were both very nice people ,as soon as i walked in the room i burst in to tears with all the worry and stress it had caused me it was such a relief when they allowed my appeal, let us know how it goes

[honeybee13]

Oh wow, it's tomorrow. I'd lost track of the date. How are you doing Rae, got all your arguments together?

 

Please let us know if you need any help. I'm here all day today.

[RaeUK]

Hi listan and honeybee,

Thanks for your good wishes - they are really appreciated!

Less than 24 hours and I'll know if I'll be held in the loving arms of the disability premium. Or herded into the DWPs cattle trucks on route to a surefire fate...

I think I have as much evidence as I can have. My medical support is good. Tonight is when the worry and nerves will strike. My main worry is that I get so tired I can sleep and sleep and sleep. Have to set more than the one alarm clock for tomorrow!

Much love.

Rae.

Edited March 24, 2010 by RaeUK
we will fight them with our breeches...

[paulb1310]

Good luck for the appeal. Hopefully you get a "good" Tribunal that actually listens and does the job properly.

[thewakers7]

good luck rae, i see youve strayed over to the "wild side" lol im just lurking trying to give back what help ive been given on my threads from yourself and a few others , since all that happened with me, something great has come out of it all, applied for DLA it got accepted and after kind help with my CT from head of revenues iv now been told im entitled to HB and CTB, all of which i never new i was entitled to untill i came on here, youl be fine il have my fingers and toes crossed for you!

[Simon7685]

Good Luck for tomorrow Rae, go get em! and bring us back some good news!

[RaeUK]

Thankyou paul, wakers and Simon. I'm remaining positive, though a little apprehensive...

 

Best wishes

Rae.

[RaeUK]

Well, fellow Caggers, the night before draws to an end. I look to the morrow with a little confidence, a little trepidition. I sit in my trench with my tin helmet firmly in place. Nervous fingers taking my bayonet out of its scabbard. In a few hours the whistle will blow for me to charge unthinkingly over the top. And face the few who hold so much in their hands.

I am bouyed, this night, with thoughts of the many who have gone before and fought valiantly for success. But my mind is tinged with a little sadness for those who have fallen in this great endeavour. Never achieving the basics that humanity should offer.

I know that I won't be online again before the cries of the DWP are ringing out over a sunlit Dorset bay. But, in the meantime, those who may stumble onto this little patch of the internet that will be forever England, I ask only this: May I take your thoughts with me at 1110hrs on Thursday the 25th of March 2010.

To be continued late tomorrow afternoon...

Rae.

[Helen2264]

Well, fellow Caggers, the night before draws to an end. I look to the morrow with a little confidence, a little trepidition. I sit in my trench with my tin helmet firmly in place. Nervous fingers taking my bayonet out of its scabbard. In a few hours the whistle will blow for me to charge unthinkingly over the top. And face the few who hold so much in their hands.

I am bouyed, this night, with thoughts of the many who have gone before and fought valiantly for success. But my mind is tinged with a little sadness for those who have fallen in this great endeavour. Never achieving the basics that humanity should offer.

I know that I won't be online again before the cries of the DWP are ringing out over a sunlit Dorset bay. But, in the meantime, those who may stumble onto this little patch of the internet that will be forever England, I ask only this: May I take your thoughts with me at 1110hrs on Thursday the 25th of March 2010.

To be continued late tomorrow afternoon...

Rae.

 

I wish you all the best and hope to hear very good news from you. Fingers crossed.

[Like-Im-Being-Ripped-Off]

Rae,

Up the revolution. (GOOD LUCK)

[ErikaPNP]

C'mon then me love, how did you get on? I've been thinking of you today.

[honeybee13]

Me too, are you OK Rae? We like you anyway , but maybe the process has left you knackered.

 

Big hugs, HB x

[RaeUK]

Sorry to keep you all on tenterhooks. I've just stepped through the door and waddled straight here!

Well, I'm afraid it was the DWP cattletrucks for me. The tribunal in their wisdom found I warranted 9 points. They seemed quite pleased with this as it was a major improvement on 0! I nearly let go a rather manically crazed howl of derisive laughter at that observation.

They were very pleasant and friendly about it. But, then again, I suspect some serial killers can be too.

The conversation centred around walking and standing. The former I was awarded the 9 points for, the latter they couldn't quite understand how COPD can affect this. Sometimes I get staggered by the sheer scale of ignorance about a disease that causes the highest number of fatalaties in the UK. I am beginning to suspect I consult the only GP in the land who has any depth of knowledge. It's not exactly rocket science. I have stage three emphysema. There are only four stages with the fourth being the one that you breathlessy phone around the Funeral Directors looking for the best deal.

The answer to the question as to how COPD affects standing is, of course, a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream affecting muscle. Muscle atrophy is something I have to be aware of and try to avoid.

I have an appointment with my GP on wednesday and I suspect she'll be less than impressed with the tribunal. She's already warned that if I look for part time work then I need to be incredibly carefull. Let alone fulltime! I suspect that the outcome of our meeting will be to reapply for ESA and go around the merry-go-round once more...

What ho, stiff upper lip and all that!

 

Best wishes

Rae xxx

Edited March 25, 2010 by RaeUK
send three and fourpence I'm going to a dance...

[honeybee13]

Rae, I'm so sorry. Where is the logic in this? I hope that your GP will sock it to them. We're all with you.

 

Best wishes, HB xxx

[RaeUK]

Thanks honeybee. I'm disappointed, of course, but never despondent. It is, I have to admit, a crazy crazy system.

Rae

 

[Thanks Erika for the thoughts ]

[ErikaPNP]

Aww Rae I'm so sad that you didn't get awarded the points you need. COPD is a terrible affliction - unfortunately it's one of the many that doesn't get the recognition it so desperately needs for benefit purposes. People can be so ignorant about it.

[RaeUK]

Thanks Erika, but please don't be sad. It's more of an irritant than anything else.

I do like to look at the bright side and find much to amuse me with COPD. If I must have a progressive degenerative disease than this is far better than some!

I've researched it a fair bit - know your enemy - and that's why I know about the muscles. It was quite amusing in town recently, I felt ok and thought I'd paced things pretty well, when my legs decided to go strike. A bit like being drunk without the expense.

Best wishes

Rae.

[honeybee13]

Rae, is there an organisation that supports people with COPD, or does it come under something one of the charities deals with? When I've been looking online, several of them are clued up about Atos assessments.

 

My best, HB x

[paulb1310]

Hi Rae, sorry to hear you didn't get the magic 15 points. As well as seeing your GP you should contact the Tribunals Service and request a statement of reasons and a copy of the record of proceedings. Once you get these you need to check that the Tribunal has not made an error of law. If they have you can seek to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. If you have no idea how to find an "error in law" or how to submit an application to the Upper Tribunal I will help you through the forum.

[RaeUK]

Honeybee, I'm not actually sure. I was thinking about starting my own...

 

Paul, good advice. I will follow that up and may well take you up on your offer. They were quite clear that they could award no points for standing as COPD 'only causes breathlessness' !

 

Best wishes

Rae.

[paulb1310]

Out of curiosity does your medical evidence say that you have severe COPD? I think some consultants use a scale of I to III or something like that. I was just thinking of what the DWP guidance says about COPD.

[ee-bee]

i`m so sorry you didnt get the points you deserve,x

[RaeUK]

Hi paul, yes. My medical evidence is very clear on the subject. It included a spirometry reading and graded me as severe with a fev1 of 49 (that's lung efficiency of 49%. Just under one lung working so to speak). Most people tend to use four stages and I'm in the third stage. The fourth stage is also referred to as 'the final stage' for obvious reasons. That's usually when your fev1 reading is down to 30-35.

 

Thanks ee-bee, have to keep soldiering on as I'm totally unsuitable for jobseekers allowance.

 

My main worry now is that I simply can't afford a disruption in benefit payments

 

Best wishes

Rae

[doktorjohn]

I admire your attitude Rae. I am dreading the migration to ESA that we all might face. It's incredibly unfair and the stress caused is going to be too much for some people.

 

To say that if a person can stand and lift a cup (or whatever) they are fit to work is astounding. I'm so disappointed with this system.

 

All the best to you.