Me, as I am...
Ok....
Me, as I am, in this world, and by that, I include the scaremongering, labelling of 'benefit scrounger'...
I am a very lucky woman. I suffered an horrendous series of 'illnesses'...
I have waited to tell my story.
You can read if you want... You can do whatever you want... One thing you can never do is take away what I suffered and will tell... You may have a view or not.... You may choose to dismiss what I have to truthfully tell...
In short, October 2009, I was soon to complete my journalism degree. I broke my leg badly and was in a cast thigh to toe until just before Christmas of that year. Over the holiday period I was limited because of the bad weather and the situation continued until mid January 2010.
Unfortunately, I contracted a bacterial infection, which, if I wasn't already unwell, would have probably been no more than a bad cold... However, due to a catastrophic series of events, I ended up in hospital with, what appeared to be, hypothermia. In the early hours of the following morning I was checked by night staff and was found to be in cardiac arrest. I had sepsis/blood poisoning/meningitis... I was revived eventually but the hypoxia level was unknown. I spent the following five weeks in ITU suffering from major organ failure (dialysis for five weeks), pneumonia, severe brain, nerve and tissue damage, minor seizures and a coma.
Against all odds I regained conciousness and was able to breath unaided, thus began the slow recovery process. Because there were many factors that the medical staff could only guess at, during my state of coma and the following weeks after waking and being transferred to HDU, the prognosis changed hour to hour and day to day. My family were called to the hospital on several occasions whilst I was in the coma.
My reason for offering this information (I'll fill in the gaps if you need more) is that my future is threatened by the government's determination to drastically cut benefits for people like myself who can live in their own homes with assistance and obviously a huge amount of support from friends and family.
I've had a lot of adaptations made to my house and the final works are to be completed by March. This, coupled with a care package via social services, enables me to live as independently as I can.
The alternative would be a very costly nursing home or hospital. This would be hundreds of times more expensive and severely detrimental for me. The DLA I receive each week is £70.95 and is being assessed soon for the renewal in April. I'm also facing yet another round of forms and possible examinations from ATOS. You might be interested in my journey through this?
Disabled, sick and elderly people have enough to deal wit/without all of the above. It costs the taxpayer so much because of the glaring administration/assessment errors and appeals (over 60% are completely overturned at the first appeal), not to mention the fact that ATOS are paid to get as many people off long term health related benefits.
Sorry if I've waffled on but I'm sure that you understand that people like me need to be heard otherwise, what will become of us? The work house?
Me, as I am, in this world, and by that, I include the scaremongering, labelling of 'benefit scrounger'...
I am a very lucky woman. I suffered an horrendous series of 'illnesses'...
I have waited to tell my story.
You can read if you want... You can do whatever you want... One thing you can never do is take away what I suffered and will tell... You may have a view or not.... You may choose to dismiss what I have to truthfully tell...
In short, October 2009, I was soon to complete my journalism degree. I broke my leg badly and was in a cast thigh to toe until just before Christmas of that year. Over the holiday period I was limited because of the bad weather and the situation continued until mid January 2010.
Unfortunately, I contracted a bacterial infection, which, if I wasn't already unwell, would have probably been no more than a bad cold... However, due to a catastrophic series of events, I ended up in hospital with, what appeared to be, hypothermia. In the early hours of the following morning I was checked by night staff and was found to be in cardiac arrest. I had sepsis/blood poisoning/meningitis... I was revived eventually but the hypoxia level was unknown. I spent the following five weeks in ITU suffering from major organ failure (dialysis for five weeks), pneumonia, severe brain, nerve and tissue damage, minor seizures and a coma.
Against all odds I regained conciousness and was able to breath unaided, thus began the slow recovery process. Because there were many factors that the medical staff could only guess at, during my state of coma and the following weeks after waking and being transferred to HDU, the prognosis changed hour to hour and day to day. My family were called to the hospital on several occasions whilst I was in the coma.
My reason for offering this information (I'll fill in the gaps if you need more) is that my future is threatened by the government's determination to drastically cut benefits for people like myself who can live in their own homes with assistance and obviously a huge amount of support from friends and family.
I've had a lot of adaptations made to my house and the final works are to be completed by March. This, coupled with a care package via social services, enables me to live as independently as I can.
The alternative would be a very costly nursing home or hospital. This would be hundreds of times more expensive and severely detrimental for me. The DLA I receive each week is £70.95 and is being assessed soon for the renewal in April. I'm also facing yet another round of forms and possible examinations from ATOS. You might be interested in my journey through this?
Disabled, sick and elderly people have enough to deal wit/without all of the above. It costs the taxpayer so much because of the glaring administration/assessment errors and appeals (over 60% are completely overturned at the first appeal), not to mention the fact that ATOS are paid to get as many people off long term health related benefits.
Sorry if I've waffled on but I'm sure that you understand that people like me need to be heard otherwise, what will become of us? The work house?
posted by Lynda Phillips @ 12:07 AM
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