Kate's Journey

Verbatim

You'll get there Beanie!

in_need_of_direction

Hi Kate, how's you? How did the staged return to work go?

Kate_fixing_it

Good grief it's been over a month since I posted here. Feeling a bit guilty about the neglect!

Sooooooooooo what's gone on...LOADS!

Work return was only phased in terms of hours. Ended up jumping on the treadmill at full speed! Have a renewed sense of ambition on that score and have a new career development plan in place. It's a long term plan but I have my eyes on the prize and I'm very motivated. I can do this job standing on my head with my eyes closed so I'm making the most of that and leaping into new things.

The leg isn't good I developed an infection which doesn't seem to be clearing. Then physio began and a lot of hope came crashing down. In a way I'm grateful for an answer instead of the constant "wait and see" or "we don't know" but it was utterly crushing. The basic prognosis is another 9-10 months of treatment before I'm walking properly and pain free (without the complications of this infection) and it's highly unlikely that I'll run again. It's also probable that I have permanent nerve damage from the use of a tourniquet during surgeries. You can imagine the pity party that ensued. After a lot of wallowing I am mostly past it (definitely not over it though ) and I accept that I just need to alter my goals. I'm not going to lie down and give in. I may be down but I'm not out! We are looking at cycling as an alternative in a few months (which I was quite excited about a few weeks ago) and nobody said impossible my marathon dream is probably gone forever but something smaller and slower may happen. I was told 6 weeks recovery and they were (very) wrong they might just be wrong about this too.

And on to debt. Last month I broke the £5k paid barrier :j who'd have thought I'd be saying that so soon after my LBM? Okay - probably you guys with your fantastic support but certainly not me! As of today I only have one debt over £2000 (HSBC dropped under that today) and overall debt according to SC is 4 figures. That's not correct (sadly) as I have given the DMP 3 months to "bed in" and there are some charges and interest to fight. There are also two other debts - £100 left to repay on a loan from a friend and £370 for DH's college course.These will be gone by the end of September at the very latest and then debt really WILL be 4 figures.

I had quite a realisation last week. I know I'm paying it down but the amount paid had never correlated to the total owed in my head. I was convinced that I owed around £12k so there was quite a surprise to see the total be £2k less

Family life is fabulous DH and I are talking lots, considering each other more and many of our long term issues have been resolved. Children are happier for this and we're on a lovely happy road at the moment. I'm under no illusion that it'll last forever but we're making hay while the sun shines We've both booked separate holidays from work apart from one day so no need for summer holiday childcare and the associated financial burden and we're MSE-ing our activities. Yesterday was a trip to a park with a picnic and McFlurrys on the way home (half the cost of the ice cream man) and we're definitely off to London to see the dinosaurs in 4 weeks :j railcard and train tickets are being purchased today (£48 and £30 for rail card as opposed to £174 for the same ticket without a railcard) and free advance tickets to the dinosaur gallery to avoid the queues. Other than that the little ones want to see the Queen's house (we'll be there early enough to see the changing of the guard) and big Ben. All doable in one day. They don't know we are going as I hate overexcited kids on trains so won't inflict that on other travellers but DH and I are very excited.

So all in all the last month is a mixed bag. It's not all been roses but I'm still plodding on as Beanielou says and the good outweighs the bad in my mind. I have hope for the future and I'm making progress with everything, maybe not in the way I had planned but the route doesn't matter as long as I can reach the destination and find a way to enjoy the journey.

Kate x

Kate_fixing_it

More to report! I sent two complaints to HSBC on Tuesday. The first about bank charges during hardship and the other concerning PPI. I've just received a text asking me to call and discuss it with them. Now I'm desperate to find out what they want ASAP but I also want as much as possible out of this to clear down the debt.

Currently sitting on my hands figuratively trying to decide what to do. I appreciate it's nigh on impossible that I'll get the £5+k of charges back but a little devil on my shoulder is poking me and saying "you owe them £4.9k, this could wipe it out".

I gave them 2 weeks to respond before I reach out to the governing body and the little devil is saying to me "call them up and listen, you can ask for it in writing after".

TBH I was expecting a "s*d off" letter in response to both complaints but thought I'd chance it for the price of a stamp each. Now I have no clue which complaint they wish to discuss or what to expect! The Angel on my other shoulder is saying "stick to the rules, wait for a written response".

Simply don't know what to do now!

Kate x

in_need_of_direction

Great to hear so many good things Kate esp re you and the oh. Not brilliant about the leg but it's still better than it was. Just stick with the physio and don't try to do too much. Take care.

beanielou

Phone them

Kate_fixing_it

I did - to tell them to correspond in writing

It is the bank charges. The lovely lady on the phone apologised (a lot) read back her understanding of my complaint and noted I'm in a DMP. She wished me luck with the DMP and said she'd pass it on to the team that deals with this and make a note that they need to respond in writing.

I'm no worse off. She didn't laugh or tell me to s*d off and I actually said very little. Just waiting for the response now.

Definitely worth a shot, at worst I lost the price of a stamp but they lost the cost of the investigation kinda feels like a win in that respect. I just hope that at the very least they think before they treat another person this way. I was extremely vulnerable during the times I am complaining about and they made the situation worse and now they're actually getting the money back they're sending snotty letters because they want it faster! All seems a bit wrong to me.

Will keep you all posted on where this goes (if anywhere)

Kate x

beanielou

Looking positive

Skinnylatte

Some good stuff happening in your life I see. Sorry to hear about the health but you are already thinking of tackling that head on with the cycling. You're an inspiration!