How would it work if...

margaretclare

Errata wrote: »

If your OH can only get in the driver's side of a car, how about swopping your 2 door for a 4 door so he can sit in the back and you can drive it?

We have a 4-door Ford Fiesta Ghia - we changed it back in October. We've thought of this - it was the obvious thought. We'd need a much bigger car for this to work. I couldn't even bring him home from hospital in our car - he got one of the big taxis and even with that, getting into the seat behind the driver was painful for him. Getting into the front passenger seat of his son's car was prohibitively painful, and he has a big BMW.

He thinks he can walk about 30 yards without using his crutch, any more and it's too painful. His consultant told him 'this is as good as it's going to be', and that was a year after the 4th knee replacement in Feb 2009.

Savvy_Sue

I'm trying to work out why he can only get in the driver's side, not the passenger side. There's usually a heap of adjustments can be made, but if it's a case of needing the steering wheel to hang onto, then surely something could be fitted for that?

IMO, AA is much easier to claim for than DLA (shorter forms, for example!) and easier to get. I have no scientific basis for this, but I know my parents wouldn't have coped with anything complicated.

sunnyone

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'm trying to work out why he can only get in the driver's side, not the passenger side. There's usually a heap of adjustments can be made, but if it's a case of needing the steering wheel to hang onto, then surely something could be fitted for that?

IMO, AA is much easier to claim for than DLA (shorter forms, for example!) and easier to get. I have no scientific basis for this, but I know my parents wouldn't have coped with anything complicated.

AA is much easier to claim and to get an award than DLA is.

Pobby

margaretclare wrote: »

....a couple in their mid-70s were both claiming Attendance Allowance?

The things that you need help with, the other person does. Like help with dressing etc. But what if both need the kind of help envisaged for that particular benefit?

Hi ya. As you know I have the greatest respect for you and I am sorry that these problems are happening to you both. I have recently been diagnosed with mental illness, at 62 it is not good. I am self employed but work on a contract. I think this might end very shortly as I am unable to perform my work. Most likely I will not get much in benefits, despite massive amounts of tax paid. I cannot touch pensions or indeed savings as they are locked up until I am 65. Hate to rely on my wifes small earnings as she is 60 next month and works very hard for a pittance.

I just really hope you get what you should be entitled to. As a care worker my wife is very aware of the help available. To be frank, I think that the caring industry is a total mess. Most of it farmed out to private companies, not very good at organising and just profit driven.

Anyway, as an online friend, I hope all goes well for you.

margaretclare

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'm trying to work out why he can only get in the driver's side, not the passenger side. There's usually a heap of adjustments can be made, but if it's a case of needing the steering wheel to hang onto, then surely something could be fitted for that?

It's not usually a problem. He's used to long drives from his years in business, down the autobahn to Stuttgart etc. I drive the car on my own when I go out e.g. to the pool. It only became a problem when he was told not to drive after the recent laser surgery on his bladder and prostate. Typical of him though, he wanted to go to Waitrose the day after he was home and 'I'll be fine'. He was right, he was fine, but only because the surgery he'd had was slightly modified as against what he'd been told he'd be having.

He has a way of tucking his left foot into the space beside the brake pedal so that it's out of the way, and yes, he uses the steering-wheel to get the rest of himself in.

IMO, AA is much easier to claim for than DLA (shorter forms, for example!) and easier to get. I have no scientific basis for this, but I know my parents wouldn't have coped with anything complicated.

Thanks for this. Well, he downloaded the claim form and has printed off 26 pages!! He didn't print the several explanatory pages at the beginning.

At present he's going to ask the surgery if they'll let him have copies of consultants' letters so that he can attach them - that was what I did. He did get a copy of each letter that was sent to the GP but hasn't kept most of them. And he has an appointment with the local DIAL but not until April - there are ways of wording these things.

Savvy_Sue

Of course, I wasn't thinking that he might find it easier to get one foot / leg in first rather than the other, making the driver's side easier.

I don't suppose a turntable on the passenger seat would help?

Mojisola

margaretclare wrote: »

....a couple in their mid-70s were both claiming Attendance Allowance?

The things that you need help with, the other person does. Like help with dressing etc. But what if both need the kind of help envisaged for that particular benefit?

My parents both get AA and both get an "underlying entitlement for carer's allowance" for each other because their income is low. This adds a bit to their income.

One of the main reasons they can get CA for each other is because they both have falls. If one of them has to go into hospital, someone else has to go and live with the other just in case they have a fall. So far, they haven't both fallen over at the same time so one has always been able to help the other - and contact me so I can rush over!

Even if they both needed help with dressing, I can see that they could still help each other. Mum needs some help with dressing herself but I could see her also being to help Dad to get dressed because she could pull his shirt round so that he could get his arms in and doing up buttons on someone else is easier because you can see what you're doing.

margaretclare

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Of course, I wasn't thinking that he might find it easier to get one foot / leg in first rather than the other, making the driver's side easier.

I don't suppose a turntable on the passenger seat would help?

No, I don't think so. It might work for a woman or someone shorter in height. Part of the problem is that he can't stand on that left leg, not at all. I wanted him to go in the pool with me just to help and give me confidence - it's only 1.1 m deep all over, but he couldn't climb down into the pool because he can't transmit weight from his right leg to his left leg.

When he went for surgery a couple of weeks ago he had to point out to everybody the difficulty with bending that leg. Apparently he could bend it enough for them to put him into lithotomy, but he had to say to them all at every stage 'Please be careful with that leg/knee because the next thing that goes wrong with it, there's no option but an amputation'. I've been in theatre and seen people's legs being handled quite roughly. I think that was the last thing he said before he went under the anaesthetic 'Be gentle with that leg!!'

Falling over...now that's another kettle of fish. It's the reason why both of us carry a mobile phone at all times, even just stepping outside the door and the other person is indoors.

margaretclare

Mojisola wrote: »

My parents both get AA and both get an "underlying entitlement for carer's allowance" for each other because their income is low. This adds a bit to their income.

One of the main reasons they can get CA for each other is because they both have falls. If one of them has to go into hospital, someone else has to go and live with the other just in case they have a fall. So far, they haven't both fallen over at the same time so one has always been able to help the other - and contact me so I can rush over!

Even if they both needed help with dressing, I can see that they could still help each other. Mum needs some help with dressing herself but I could see her also being to help Dad to get dressed because she could pull his shirt round so that he could get his arms in and doing up buttons on someone else is easier because you can see what you're doing.

Thanks for this. This is a bit like us. We do help each other. Until I discovered the trick of putting on a bra without undoing it, I always got him to do up my bra. My arm/shoulder muscles have got weak, don't know why. He needs his socks put on for him. I need socks/tights put on for me.

We have both fallen over at different times and, because of his knees and my hips, we have a lot of difficulty getting up without help.

We wouldn't get CA because of our other pensions - total income too high. All these things are useful, though. Every darned thing is costing more than it did a few months ago.

zaksmum

I don't know if the criteria for AA has changed in the last few years, but when my elderly auntie applied for it she was really bewildered at one aspect of it.

She lived alone and had nobody to care for her. The social worker said that was ok, she didn't need anyone to actually care for her, all that mattered was that she had the need for someone to do it. She could need it but not actually get it.

She was very sceptical but applied on the advice of the social worker, and was awarded the AA.