DLA AWARD

[happycroc]

HI PEEPS.... I have not been on for a while as July was a very busy month for me.... and then I have just come back from my Hols in Tenerife.... OH IT WAS A GREAT HOLIDAY ... IF ONLY THEY COULD STRAIGHTEN OUT THE MOUNAITNOUS ROADS YOU HAVE TO GO UP AND DOWN LOL VERY PAIN FULL , had to rely on my crutches for the whole 7 days... I am back home and have collasped today into a foggy haze and feeling very tired... the trials of travel....

ANYWAY ... THE GOOD NEWS IS .... I CALLED THE DLA DEPARTMENT THIS MORNING TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH MY CLAIM... AS I HAD HAD MY ATOS ASSESSMENT ON THE FIRST OF JULY, AND HAVE HEARD NOTHING... i HAVE BEEN AWARDED .... DRUM ROLL PLEASE...... LOW RATE FOR CARE AND LOW RATE FOR MOBILITY.... FIRSTLY I AM SO RELIEVED THAT THEY AWARDED ME ANYTHING AT ALL... BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE WHEN I AM IN A TOTAL FLARE I CAN NOT DO ANYTHING... DO I JUST BE HAPPY AND ACCEPT WHAT THEY HAVE GIVEN ME OR SHOULD I SAY SOMETHING... EITHER WAY ITS GOOD NEWS ... GENTLE HUGS TO YOU ALL AND MAY MOTHER EARTH AND THE ANGELS OF LIGHT PROVIDE HEALING AND WARMTH TO YOU ALL HC XXXX

[Darren1976]

I would challenge if you are as bad as you say having to use stick and hubby to hold on to the you deserve more i was in the same boat I was offered low low then I challenged and I'm glad I did I now have high high so go for it hun xxx

[happycroc in reply to Darren1976]

aWW THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT HONEYXX

[angib53]

Im sooo happy for you , I have attended tribunal 3 weeks ago and they were undecided so im now waiting for a doctor to visit me , fingers crossed , x

[happycroc in reply to angib53]

aww i really hope you get it... i find that i am and have been so lucky with both my applications esa and DLA i have had no problems at all. i feel so bad that you and others have such a bad time of things... and makes me angry at the fact you have had to jump through all the hoops just to get what is rightfully yours .. gentle hugs and good luck xx HC

[jacksie]

hi croc,you should go for higher you have your base now build.if you have to have care at night that's more'your worst days should be your claim not the not so bad ones.trying to help ,do you have a problem with bladder or bowels or both due to "fibro",tell everything don't hold back,if it's occasionally then that's an answer no.drill them again till you get what you wan't.trying to help jacksiex

[happycroc in reply to jacksie]

thaks hon

[rainbowdancer]

If you feel your disability is worse than low rate then you need to push for middle rate, it is worse case scenario that they should be looking at. As you know a flare will put you out for days or weeks.

Good luck

Rainbow hugs to you ((((((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[happycroc in reply to rainbowdancer]

thanks RB x

[rosaann52]

What ever you do don't mention that you went on holiday abroad....my specialist mentioned 'that I felt better' after a trip abroad last year in a letter to my GP... this letter was submited in my appeal papers... they concluded that if I was fit enough to travel I was fit enough to work...

[budgiefriend]

Congratulations on your award of low rate care and mobility. I don't think I would have had any chance at all of getting that if I'd been on holiday. I have not left my home except to attend hospital apointments in the last two years, and still I was only given low rate care and mobility.

I have read so many stories about people being challenged and threatened with withdrawal of what little they do get--here and in the Panorama exposes about ATOS and people's experiences with them! It terrifies me, and I just felt like I didn't want to risk it. So I am interested that some of you did manage successfully to challenge and go for more than what they gave you, even after a tribunal!

My ordeal with the tribunal was so horrible and they spoke to me in such a disrespectful and demeaning way, implying that I was making things up, repeating the same question over and over to try to get me to give them a different answer than the truth. I was in horrible shape in front of them, shaking, sometimes unable to focus my eyes and pay attention, slumped over in the chair from sitting so long--and still they persisted, and then blamed me because the hearing lasted almost 2 hrs. They tried to shame me, telling me that because of me they had not been able to hear the next person. It was the end of the day. They were so doggedly intent on getting me to tell them that I don't need DLA after all, that my friend who was with me, who has known me for 7 yr left the room in tears. After this, and the exertion of trying to walk holding onto walls and furniture because there I cannot get access to a wheelchair and their building was not disability friendly, I was in a much worse state for several months.

I returned home certain that they would deny my claim once again, but they gave me low rate for mobility and care. I cannot face going back for more of that humiliation and interrogation with the intent to trip you up and wear you down. I have had Fibromyalgia diagnosed almost 12 years ago and I have been almost completely bedbound for the last 2 yrs, but I hadno carer. My GP had written to them to tell them I am unable to go to the assessment centre, so ATOS had sent an assessment doctor to my home. He blatantly contradicted the things I told him, saying things like, "I don't believe you fall." and when I got the report he filled in, he had put "Significant disability unlikely" in every single section, making it look like I was a normal person who should be working. Because my GP had filled in their report hurriedly and omitted to tell them one or two things, they tried to get me to say those things were not true and used her omission of details to hound me with.

I really need the middle or high rate of mobility and care. I am spending all my DLA money on a very part time cleaner and carer person for a few hours a week, plus meals delivered in microwaveable trays. I just can't face more of the kind of abuse that passess for a 'fair hearing' from so-called professionals. I don't know what I will do when the 2 yrs they gave me for this rate of DLA is over. Every time I think about that happening, I start contemplating suicide.

If anyone can advise me about how to handle or get help, I would be very grateful. I am unable to go to CAB or something like that because I have no wheelchair (was told that the criteria to get one in my area say you have to go out 4x a week to qualify for one) They are not able to come out to my home. Due to the pain I am in, I am unable to sit in their chairs upright long enough to go through all the forms with them. I believe I have M.E. but my gp has no interest in this possibility.