My journey with endo and the battles it brings...entry 2

[cherryblossom83]

So in my first blog entry i gave a summary of where i am so far with my me vs endo and the complications it brings battle. I would first like to say thank you to all the girls who commented, your questions and comments inspire me to keep writing , not only do i know some one out there is listening but you actually want to hear what ive got to say (whether you agree with me or not ) makes all the difference to me. SO BIG THANK YOU !!! Okay , so ive just got some advice on filling in the DLA forms, a solicitor friend of mine advised that when i fill in these forms i was to answer the questions based on how i am at my absolute worst. I thought maybe this was a little extreme but it is how the questionnaire is designed to be answered. It is a lengthy process but dont be put off by that. I did mine in sections so that i could take my time and did it over a couple of days , left it to one side and re read what id written to make sure id answered it all correctly and not left anything out. Some of the questions are very rigid but i worked through it and got to the end with a sigh of relief and hope that the person assessing me has at least some knowledge of chronic pain conditions or endo .The reason I mentioned the legal protections DLA could afford me in the work place was because thats what im more interested in than the money. If you are under DLA your employer has a legal obligation to make it easy for you to attend hospital appointments, they cannot count them as days off sick as other employers would normally be aloud to do. They also cannot sack you for time off ill if the time off sick is directly related to the health condition for which you receive DLA. The thing i found most interesting though was that i can work up to 15 hours per week and earn up to £95 per week without losing any DLA benefit so i can work and not worry that if im off sick for a couple weeks that i will be falling into debt as i wouldnt just have my wages coming in , i would have a safety net of my benefit to keep us going until i was well enough to work and earn again. If any one has any questions about anything ive just mentioned about DLA or how to apply please leave a comment/question and i will do my best to answer it , i will be happy to support any one i can using the knowledge and experiences ive gained through this process. I will be posting all the documents on monday morning so it will be a couple weeks before i hear anything but i will blog again and keep you all informed as i go through my journey....It'l be nice to have your company and support along the way and make this whole thing a little less lonely. As always take care , much love Cherryblossom83. xxxx

[worth71]

hi - i had my first lap 8 weeks ago. previous to that over the last two years i've cut my hours from full time to 8-12 hours per week as simply couldn't manage the full time hours due to pain. i was diagnosed with stage 4 endo at my lap, it took me around six weeks to feel anywhere near normal, and i'm still not right. i am self employed mobile hairdresser, and my work presents many problems with my pain, standing for long periods really does aggravate my pain, bending over sinks/baths to wash hair is agony, so much i've told customers if they cant do it themselves then they need to find a new hairdresser, but most have been fine with this, i've changed my car from a manual to an automatic as changing gear was too painful as my daily pain is left pelvis and left leg and left lower back (thats a good day) anyway, i've worked about 6 hours at most in one week, and thats all i can manage is 4-6 hrs a week. some days i can manage gentle exercise though, and this is the weird thing, but it just seems that if i keep my body moving i have better movement, but once sitting, standing or laying for more than 30 mins i seem to seize up and it takes me ages to get properly mobile again. i have tried to claim esa but haven't heard yet, do you think its worth me trying for dla, as i'd like to work those few hours a week when i can but i didnt think it was even worth trying for dla. I've been put on waiting list for full hysterectomy but i'm still unsure this is what i want as i don't think this will necessarily cure the problems due to where some of the endo is in my pelvis. any help/advice would be appreciated xx

[cherryblossom83]

at this stage the only advice i can give is to say that if you have a doctors certificate to say you are unfit for work or more than a few hours altered work per week then this will be enough for you to claim e.s.a. as for DLA i work go for it. you have an illness that is debilitating, that is not a lie. The trick here is that as they do not recognise endo as a disabling illness you need to base your claim on the fact that the symptoms you suffer everyday are disabling. when you fill in in the form answer all the health questions for how you are at your absolute worst , not your average or good days. this is the advice a solicitor friend told me. good luck , i hope this helped and ,keep reading .xxx