This topic contains 7 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by 
Min 12 years, 3 months ago.
Good morning everyone I hope your day has started well , we actually have a bit of blue sky and sunshine!! Afew years ago Macmillan press office asked me if I would help by giving an interview to a journalist writing about the financial hardship that being diagnosed with cancer can bring As I had been helped by the Macmillan Benefit advisor to claim my DLA and other benefits I was only too glad to help, although I turned down a tv interview!!There have been a few articles where my small contribution was included since then Just before christmas Macmillan published a report on fuel povert and its impact on cancer patients , the press office asked if I would speak to a journalist writing for an oncology nurses professional publication on the subject Whilst speaking to the journalist last night he asked me if clinical staff at the hospital had been able to advise on benefits Although my doctors and specialist nurses have been great at providing supporting letters for claims they are not very aware of the system and what help is available Sometime ago I read of a proposal to have Macmillan benefit advisors working in clinics for cancer patients, this is not the case at UCH but does it happen at your hospital ? I really hope that raising professional awareness of the hardship being diagnosed with cancer can have on patients that hospitals will look at ways to provide helpful information from the beginning Hopefully the new cancer hospital opening this year at UCH will have this inbuilt into the system , I will be asking in clinic this week and let you know . On a different note I want to know whether to pack my Louis Vitton luggage for the celebrity big brother house? Surely I must rank alongside the other triple minus Z celebrities now, I am sure I would fit in beautifully — well apart from wandering around in a bikini all day ( that would be more suited to a wildlife documentary !!)Anyway I am off to practice a false smile in front of a mirror now whilst waiting for the phone to ring!! lots of love daaaarlings! Bridget aka famous for 30 seconds! ( sorry if you are in a serious mood today but a little daftness is good for the soul sometimes )
Good MOrning Bridget and Happy and better New Year for you all. Including me!
Will you still speak you when you are famous? Brilliant idea to take part and good on you.
I recall when Peter was first diagnosed with mm that the ?cancer ? social worker was in Peters room chatting to him about what he could claim. and when I interrupted them to say his DLA had been refused just the previous week, she sorted it all out using the correct terminology to get the claim thru along with the help of the RAFA lady.
Our biggest worry was how to cope with his income stopped and it made such a difference to get the financial help that was available.
I would urge anyone regardless of their income to apply for the benefits that are available, if you have worked all your life and made contributions its only right you should get your share of the pay outs. In my case Peter was never going to live to get his old age pension which he had contributed to for 43years so the small amount of benefits he did get were gratefully received, and when I took redundancy I qualified for carers allowance.
( Though I think I deserved it while I was working too as that time was very hard)
But in doing so it automatically puts other benefits ie widows and bereavement benefits at your disposal and I have heard of many who were never informed of them and were too late to claim by the time they found out.
National Insurance contributions are exactly that Insurance against events we have no control over and we all are eligible for something.
Love MIn
I can certainly confirm from personal experience that finding out what entitlements there may be for MM patients is a real problem! Add to that the completion of usually enormous application forms will surely make the whole exercise too daunting for some. In addition even if you are prepared to findout,complete the form, you will probably manage to make some minor error in its completion, leading to a claim rejection! I know we did!
Luckily for us following rejection of a claim we found out that the Marsden Hospital has a full time benefits adviser (an ex DHSS emloyee) who gave us some fantastic advice on not only what could be claimed for but how to complete the forms.
Hi Min and Stuart it is reassuring to know there are people to help at our hospitals Those forms are such a nightmare I break out in a sweat even though my job entailed helping others fill out benefit forms , just cant do my own On the radio today there was a discussion on the proposed reforms to disability benefits , made me so angry there was steam coming out of my ears!! They are suggesting that even patients having chemo should be fit to work , no talk of individual needs or circumstances Grr bring on the revolution Apart from that moan wishing you both a happy new year and hopefully things will get easier for you Min love Bridget x
Hi Bridget
Good to hear from you and that you are on form as usual. I think the thought of you wandering round "Big Brother" in a bikini quite a powerful image!! I bet it would increase their ratings.
I have to say that the extra support side at my hospital is nil. Fortunately I didn't need it as I already had DLA following four ops for arthritis. I was once introduced to the specialist nurse, but wasn't given a card or any contact details. There is nothing up in the Clinic to say how to contact her. Very different from at St James's Leeds where I went for radiotherepy. I get the impression that our Clinic is very under pressure and under staffed.
Could have been spitting blood yesterday. I went to have my zometa infusion and heard one of the senior nurses say to a younf woman patient having her first chemo (I think for breast cancer) "well loosing your hair is the least of your worries"!!!!! I think I could get a reputation as being a grumpy old woman so I didn't say anything, but ……..
Have a good year Bridgret and do hope your new drug regime will be VERY successful.
Love
Mavis xxx
Hi Bridget
I think you would be good as our resident expert on financial matters on this site,at our hospital there is no information except a notice board note telling you to get in touch with macmillan office.I tried this when Slim was in hospital,never received a reply,made me so angry it put me off trying.
later applied for,some surpport,to cut a long story short 6 weeks passed heard nothing got in touch with the person I dealt with,had to start process again,did not get it back dated all the way,just did not have the fight in me to appeal.In truth,I needed far more help in the early days,and that,s when it is never there.
So change your carpet to red,and enjoy your moment of fame as to the big brother house too tacky for a lady of your quality.Love Eve
Hi Bridget and all.
Perhaps, like the new 'Life & Grief', there could be a 'Practical Support' section on the board. I see this section as a place for questions and advice on benefits (financial and practical) and general support issues.
I am sure that we could all benefit (excuse the pun) from the experiences of people like Bridget, people who have mostly gained experience from many hours of chasing, hounding and hunting down tidbits of information allied to financial and other 'benefits' that are due to us by right. Perhaps the answers to some of these questions, where there is general agreement that the information has been valuable, can be framed as permanent 'stickies'.
I too approached MacMilan and was grateful for their bursary… but I received advice on what to chase up, advice that I was told should be followed up immediately and relentlessly… which I did… only to be proven wrong and set me back months in trying for something of which the initial advice was plainly misinformation.
I think MacMillan is a wonderful organisation but their financial adviser cost me a lot of heartache and time… and a loss in confidence of their advice on financial matters.
So advice from our own, which has been proven, would be of great value to me and I am sure to a lot of others that frequent this board.8-)
Dai.
Hi Dai
Should add that our Dr at the behest of the Macmillan nurse issued a form for Peter which was normaly given to patients who have only 6 months to live. Cant remember its name but in essence it provided a short cut to benefits without filling in too much paperwork.
I was upset about this as I worried that as he started to get better they would take the benefit off him. In fact although it is meant to be for 6 months the date on it was for 3 years. Had he survived until August this year he would have automatically qualified for a further 3 years without reference.
I suppose what I am trying to say is, dont anyone get upset at being given one of these forms as it is does not mean you what it says on the tin so to speak. It also meant he qualified for mobility allowance which meant he got a car too.
On a morose note but perhaps something most people do not know. There is an allowance of £2000 for funerals and widows benefits too. But the widows benefit stops when the widow or widower qualifies for there old age pension. ( Thats me next week applying for a bus pass LOL)
I was a carer for Peter and the carers allowance continues after bereavement for 8 weeks but you dont get the full widows benefit if you have it.
Both Peter and I had worked from being 15yrs old and never had had a single benefit before MM .
As a widow (dreadful term) or single person as I am now I am entitled to inherit some of his pension contribution the Graduated ones that the government told us was a wonderful idea in the 1970s .
If anyone wants help on this side of the benefits table please ask. If you dont want everyone to know your business message me privately. I dont know everything but I do have some experience to draw on.
MIn
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