Well thats what it says on my sick note, or fit to work note.
Now i'm not boasting what I have or have not, don't forget the carpal tunnel op and the 2 ops on my spine, makes me feel ill thinking of it.
I can't drive as my right leg can not be trusted, it goes off and does a little gig of its own, not good when your driving down the A46. Also the anemia is killing my mind is in a fog half the time.
I need to write to my employers to say having to give up, but how do you word it so you can hopefully claim DLA just finished the forms whew!! and ESA on contribution basis only. I'll hold off writing it till I see your advise.
love to all sorry not been on for a few weeks put that down to appointments blood transfusions and that lovely DLA form.
Love
Tricia P
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Tricia-P
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Tricia my dear you are having a hard time of it at the moment. I don't think you will have a lot of problems getting dla/esa from what is wrong with you. My tip for you is if you get a medical and get turned down appeal,as you will get it in the end. Don't despair though.
Tell your employer that due to ill health you are having to resign,as i'm sure they are well aware of. Thank them for bearing with you due to your health.
Take care,looking forward to hearing more of you when you get sorted out.
Love sylvi. xx
Hi Tricia, good luck with this, I cant help with any tips on writing apart from what sylvi has written above. I just want to wish you luck with the esa battle and new found freedom. Take care.
Glad you have reached decision, and can imagine that letter will have to be worded carefully.
I have some experience with anaemia and blood transfusions, tho not since RA, but after I had my kids, I got severe anaemia and had several transfusions, as they could'nt do the hysterectomy, until my blood reached 8 and it was down to 6, talk about weak I almopst died, ended up in hospital, each unit brough me up a point or a half point, then I had to go for weeks & weeks for iron injections, when I think of it and I had 3 children under 5 years and ahubby working abroad (how convenient!!)
Anyho, make sure you are taking B12? (or is it B6) no B12, for absorbtion of iron am sure you know that.
People say you are bouncing after blood transfusions, I never found that it took ages, and also you get used to the exhaustion with anaemia, mind you dont get depressed and rest until your iron levels come up again.
I can understand you have a lot on your plate with paperwork etc, I am the same at moment, hopefully will be worth it and we can look after ourselves with the RA and not have to worry about work. Athough, I am reluctant to burn my bridges with work, for the moment I am looking on it as a well deserved break, after all I have been thru.
Kindest wishes, Gina.
Dear Tricia, my thoughts are with you!, it must have been a hard decision are such a strong person and a real fighter .. good luck with it all
You are so brave actually deciding that enough is actually enough. With all the problems and pain I'm glad you are thinking about yourself for a change. Take time to rest and as they say smell the flowers!! Life will be so much easier in a lot of ways I would think if you don't have to keep juggling everything in your life. I suspect it may even be a weight off your shoulders. Good luck and enjoy the coming summer.
I really understand your decision about stopping full time work as it's what I did, and I don't regret it at all. Best decision I made especially in terms of managing my RA.
However, I'd take the time to find out a bit more before you send in a resignation letter as the terms under which you stop working could make a difference to future benefits & so on. I'm no specialist in these systems & I don't get any benefits any more, but I do know that the devil is in the detail. From what you've written it sounds as if your doc has said that you're not fit for work, so it may be better if you arrange with your employer to be considered as medically unfit for work or something similar. Anyway, see if you can find out a bit more first. Good luck. Polly
i was going to say the same thing! Depends on whether you will ever want to go back to work and impact on benefits. Good luck I wish I'd given up work earlier
Hi all, I completely agree with everything Polly has said. The decision to leave work is a hard one and the best thing I did too. Though it can knock your confidence and self esteem after you've been off a while.
I simply had meetings with my manager, Occ health and HR, after discussions it was decided I would be unable to return to my job and as there were no vacancies to move me to another area I said I would leave, no need for letters.
As for benefits be very careful as resigning can leave you open to more questions from DWP, talk to your HR or Occ health department if you have one and ask about the possibility of being finished on health grounds, but be aware if you decide to go back to work in the future this can have an adverse effect on future job applications.
You will be entitled to contributions based ESA if you've paid enough contributions however, with current legislation going through this will only be paid for a year and after that your circumstances will dictate whether or not your entitled to means tested benefits.
If successful with your DLA claim, middle rate care qualifies you for additional disability premiums so make sure you get advice from a welfare rights organisation such as CAB.
I don't know what type of employment you are in or what sort of pension scheme you have but it might be worth investigating the possiblility of Ill Health Retirement. This would allow you to take your pension early.
from a personal perspective and a legal perspective (I'm a law degree student and have covered employment law in detail) do not resign - it will impact on your benefits significantly and as the threshold for ESA i extremely high don't be tempted to think you will automatically get it. The estimates for turning down applicants is in excess of 80 %.
Would it not be better for you to reduce hours under reasonable adjustments? As another blogger has said its is worth investigating ill health retirement. If you were off sick for long periods your employer must consider ill health retirement before dismissal
Hi Tricia, I agree with Traceymummy (I am a barrister as many of you know). the worst thing you can do is resign as it restricts you from claiming a number of benefits at least for the first few weeks.
Can you not reduce your hours? I went down from 5 days to 3 days and it was the best thing I did. I now work 2 days a week but usually finish mid afternoon unless something goes wrong.
Is that not worth exploring? It will also help you stay in the mainstream of things as well. I would imagine your employers know about your health problems and should be willing to adjust to help you. (Equality Act which took over from the Disability Discrimination Act).
Yes, people who claim ESA do get turned down but it also gets overturned on Appeal and the ESA allowed.
It shouldn't affect your DLA claim as you can claim that whether working or not. If you wanted to apply for Job Seekers (unlikely I should think) if you resign, there is a waiting period before they give it to you which could be anything from a week to 6 months.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Love LavendarLady x
Hi Tricia, I couldn't possibly come up with any more advice or directives than all these good people have offered. Especially LavendarLady, who is very well informed.
I know it would feel wonderful to be able to just resign and go home, but that really isn't the best thing to do if you can avoid it.
When all is said and done, and you have spent a length of time away from work, you do begin to wish you were there. It's the personal exchange between other co-workers that you come to miss.
I was forced to take Disability at age 55, and I cried for days. Mostly because people I was friends with at work, seemed to be too busy to call or come see me. I felt abandoned. 2 of my best work buddies are still my buddies. We get together, often here at my house, for lunch and gossip, etc. That is like a shot in the arm. We laugh alot. Best medicine in the world.
But, you have to make it happen, if you ever get to that point.
You have to weigh all the pros and cons, and try to keep your "foot in the door" if at all possible for the future. All the best, Loretxx
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RA and Fibro ... double whammy and no life to live ...
Lonely, in pain and scared.......
dla
Just a question.
