i was diagnosied with lympheodema early last year and was in bandages for 4 months and off work i have gone back to work but when in pain i struggle with the pain, and somedays am not able to work i cannot stand for long or sit for long i cannot walk very far without being in constant pain, i relay on taxis to get me to work and home again, which is very costly
what im wanting to know if anyone knows of any benefits i could claim to help with financially as it is getting hard
you might be classed as disabled and be able to claim DLA as you are having difficulty walking. This can be a long process and as i understand it you have to be suffering from a condition for more than a year, but it would be worth looking into. Fortunately for me my form of lympoedema does not cause me any pain or mobility problems at the moment. Hopefully yours will improve with time.
hi jenny
sounds like a real struggle, i'm sorry you''re having a hard time
2 tips:
- if you're going to apply for dla do it right now & get some advice from a cab / benefit support organisation - in april the system changes to 'personal independence payments' for new claimants & will be much harder than it is already to get through
- look at the info on 'access to work' :gov.uk/access-to-work/overview
it's a govt-funded (for now!) scheme to help disabled people stay in work, can pay for taxis to work & other things
ideally if you work somewhere big enough you'll have an occupational health dept who can do a workplace assessment with you of what you need but if not start with asking for the taxi money & talk to your boss about what they think you need to help you stay in the job
slight complication with access to work is that your boss has a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' themselves & may have to stump up a bit of dosh, at the very least change your duties as much as they can to accommodate your needs
& don't forget that there's no such thing as being 'registered' disabled - a lot of people think you have to be getting dla / some other thing to get the support at work but they're completely separate & you're disabled if you have a condition or impairment that substantially affects your ability to carry out everyday tasks & it's not likely to get substantially better (equality act 2010) - doesn't matter whether you personally choose to call yourself disabled or not, that's the legal definition that's used for employers, service providers etc (eg if you're in a shop & there's a queue, you could ask someone to get you a chair to sit on while you wait)
hope that's helpful, pm me if you want
its very sad i had to give nursing up as adjustments couldnt be made for me, Afeter being diagnosed and then that its been a difficult time. I tried for benefits as advised but i was told the condition didnt have enough impact to cause a problem with my life, i was gutted id lost my job and cant get any help, My husband is working more hrs than he should to keep our head above water, its not fair as we have both always worked.Until lymphodema is recocnised more it wont improve i fear but good luck.
morganite, did you not get ill-health retirement?
thank you to everyone who has replied i appreciate it makes me feel a little better knowing that there are others out their like me xxx
if you want to, let us know how you get on
Repeating myself here from another post but I have been successful with helping people claim DLA in the past. Unfortunately the benefit is being replaced with Personal Independent Payment during 2013 but don't let that put you off finding out about entitlement as someone else suggested.
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