LYRICAL. As in songs? now really liking pop songs for some reason. I can recommend to cheer you up
Min
CAL for you
dear Dai,
So sorry to hear your news what a bug***.
I am sure by now you have both got over the blow you were dealt, but as always pick yourself up dust yourself off and head off for the next adventure.
the MM journey for some is so unfair, and the hope that the next new drug will work is amazing in the way it makes us bounce back ready for the fight.
I do hope you and Janet are ready for the fight and whilst you wait for the next round get yourself fit and able to give it all you?ve got. Revlamind is a reasonably gentle drug and if you got on with Thalidomide you should get on well with it Dex your familiar with of course and the other well no idea but good luck and will watch your progress with interest.
Love
Min
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
I?m really pleased for you both, enjoy the rest of your life
Min
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
Dear Michelle
I am so sorry that you and your children and of course your husband have been struck down by this blu_y awful illness.
It is a very rough ride you have been on and I sincerely hope that this is not the end of the story or the journey for you both. I have heard that going back to the beginning is helpful, ie if he was on CDT at the outset can he go back on it whilst he waits for a trial?
Please to do not say goodbye to your husband, prepare just in case but never say never.
Talk together and say the things that need to be said, so you have no regrets later. Hopefully these will come to nothing and you can laugh about it later but dont leave things unsaid.
Try to stay posative if it is at all possible, Especialy for the children.
The Doctors will tell you when there is no hope, untill then keep the faith and support what ever decisions he makes regarding his treatment.
I am very very sad that you find yourselves at the end of the road if that is where you are but never never believe that it is all over.
My prayers will be with you.
Min
Beautiful bride and wedding dress and just right for the winter.
It sounds like it was all worth the effort and so pleased for you both. Back to some kind of normality now for everyone.
I came home yesterday and it was not as bad as I thought, must be getting used to being on my own though was exhausted form being with the grand children over christmas
Love Min
I survived my first Christmas without peter with many moments of reflection, a small amount of tears,and lots of children's laughter.
My tears were mostly seeing my grandson playing with one of Peters tanks in the way I know he planned to do with him had he been here.
But on the whole not as bad as i had imagined, but have yet to go home and back to a reality check.
Hope those of you who are struggling to get thru the festivities are at peace with yourselves, and ready to move forward to tommorow, and tommorow. Small steps one at a time with best wishes to all for the new year
Love
min
Whilst your angry let it simmer under a hot fire of anger then get in there and insist on all the money he signed cheque on being put back in the account. That will make them sit up then go to the financial ombudsman and get them to get you compensation for the additional distress.
On a lighter and more seasonal note merry Christmas
Love
Min
Happy birthday to ya, as the song goes. And many more too.
With Christmas wishes too to everyone
Luv
Min
Oh Sarah
Dont these people just know how much distress they are causing. I would be asking them why they accepted the cheques that have already cleared over the years.
Cant imagine how your going to get out of this but i imagine its going to need a solicitor and more unnecessary expense.
When i used to work, I could have belonged to a union to help me out but only in relation to work matters. I used to pay a fortune each month for someone to go on a jolly at my expense, then when i was made redundant about 17 yrs ago they were neither use nor ornament.
I therefore took out legal insurance with my home insurance policy, does not cost a fortune but they are there if I need them. Without the worry about what it may cost me.
I would urge anyone to look into it as its a very useful add on.
I do hope that you can rattle some cages at the bank and if not do what a farmer did up here
He got his muck spreader and used it on the walls and windows of the bank to get there attention.. all that cow pooh imagine the impact it had on them ? hee hee
Hit the headlines too. .
It would perhaps go some way to letting your creditors know how useless the bank is.
and and and Name and Shame them,
Love MIn
AMARYLLIS a lovely house plant for the spring to look forward to
LIS next player
min
Dear Tom
The lantern is a lovely idea[b] but big bu[/b]t make sure it does not have a metal ring on it as they are lethal to animals in the countryside.
It was an item on Countryfile on the BBC that cows for instance have died as a result of the metal frame on lanterns.
There are some available with fine wood of some kind that are far kinder to birds and animals and if I can find some I will be setting one off too. From the depth of Warwickshire countryside where I shall (weather permitting me to travel) be spending Christmas right next to a field full of cows and sheep acrross the road.
I am looking forward to time with the grandchildren and there parents of course.
I am with you Gina with regards to no more grueling treatment no more pain or worrying if a b or c will work, and all that went with it.
Its a far far better place our loved ones are in and its those of us left behind that suffer from missing them.
Love MIn
Hi Keith I am sorry your feeling so wretched with your cough.
When I was very much younger and up to a few years go I used to get very bad bronchitis ( my dad was a heavy smoker as indeed I was prior to peter getting ill)
The coughing was a nightmare and it went on for weeks and weeks particularly when I was warm or well wrapped up.
Someone told me to keep a flannel in the fridge and apply it to my main arteries in my neck when the coughing would not allow me to sleep for instance or when I simply could not stop it. Or if all else fails paracetamol!
It does work and hope it might work for you.
Best wishes
Min
AH DAVID AND DAI
Fear not, its old age.
I have not had a single drug of the type you two must of had, I have not had any of the proceedures you have had to endure.(Thank God)
But I do have a terrible memory of late ( But I can remember I will be an official old age pensioner next month)
I used to call all of my moment of forgetfulness senior moments, now I call them panic attacks!
Peter was my memory. Even with all he had had to endure he could always remember where I had put the things I had ?lost? he never forgot a name or place or event.
As I no longer work and my brain is no longer active in the same way I keep telling myself I am going to get the brain training game out and sharpen up, but there are never enough hurs in the day and I spend far too much time on my computer which is probably why my brain is addled!
Love MIn
