OS ways and Poor Health

lessonlearned

My blood pressure is the one bit of me that is ok. Although that did get a bit high a few weeks ago......:rotfl: thankfully its back to normal now.

Yes I'm off to bed, read a bit and cuddle the cat.

Goodnight to all.

candygirl

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

LL I forgot to say that isn't what I meant in the OP by medical advice . I was meaning urging people to stop taking prescribed meds without talking to their doctors . A lot of what you do is similar to unmedicated me :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Candy I can't believe that little ball of fluff is nearly a year old. Where has the year gone? Doesn't seem long since I was suggesting using her as a free hot water bottle when she was cuddling up in bed with you .

polly

I know hun, she's huge now, n a right Madam lol 😀

Wednesday2000

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

I agree with the others Wednesday no harm in looking up the pip claim and doing a dry run of noting the descriptors and how they apply to you before making your mind up .
BTW This has been mentioned a few times during the thread .
Arthritis Research UK is an excellent website if you haven't already come across it .
Fibro is one of the many conditions on that site and you can send for booklets on each subject including the proper information on the condition . Day to day management and different helpful ones .

One day I'll learn to do links :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

polly

Yes, I will do now as I've spoken to you all about it, what do I have to lose?:)

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

It's a very trite expression which I myself have used to say " Look after yourself " but really who cares for the carer?
There are carers associations but does the carer have time or energy to take advantage of an aromatherapy session ?

Yes, my GP said that I need to take better care of myself when I first went there and we didn't know what my health issue was back then. It's easier said than done when you are living 24 hours a day with the person who is ill.

Now my husband and I are in the position where we are both ill!

lessonlearned wrote: »

Don't get me started!!!

Who cares for the carers indeed......the answer is no one. No one gives a fig. Carers are expendable, they are cheap or often free labour.

Oh yes. Adult Social Services all give lip service to it, they all talk about the need for carers to take breaks, to be partners or spouses, and not just nurses or carers. But it is just that - empty idle talk - and no one offers any real practical solutions. Aromatherapy massages is one of the better suggestions.....but really which carer has the time, the energy or the money, that's assuming they can get someone to look after their loved one whilst they take that much needed break.

Help and support, don't make me laugh. I even had to buy my husbands wheelchairs and stairlift, gadgets and gizmos to try and help him, along with incontinence pads because he didn't qualify.

What?? He ended up paralysed from the neck down but he "didn't qualify".

Carers save the Government and the NHS a small fortune. Oh yes some carers may receive a carers allowance, but many don't.

I gave up my job to care for my husband. Big mistake. It took me 18 months to get him DLA to which he was entitled. As it was i eventually had to haul him before a tribunal, in his wheelchair in which he could barely sit unsupported, before they conceded that yes he was eligible. . Then when he was finally awarded DLA I eventually received the princely sum of £53 per week. Ha!

Same when it came to getting him continuing health care to cover the nursing homes fees when he was completely bedridden, couldn't feed himself, couldnt even turn over by himself. You wouldn't believe the fight I had. It is a patients legal right but you try getting the NHS to assume their fiscal responsibility.

The State takes advantage of carers. They use us as cheap labour. They know that we will never abandon our loved ones so they exploit us, knowing they have us over a barrel.

The most inquitous example of this is children becoming a carer for their parent. How dare they exploit children in this way. It makes my blood boil. They are being robbed of their childhood, and their educational opportunities are wrecked. These young carers lives are ruined before they have even begun. Much good would an aromatherapy massage do to help a child carer whose life and health is being destroyed. .

Sorry for the rant but as you can see this is one subject that is guaranteed to make me see red.

Then when we have wrecked our health and our finances and we eventually have to admit defeat and place our loved one into a nursing home, they withdraw all financial support and leave us high and dry......too sick to work but not deemed sick enough to claim benefits. :mad:

As my dear aunt once said to me "never put your faith in the State, because just when you need it most, it will let you down". Thankfully she did not live to see my husband get sick and witness me having to beg and grovel for help and support. She would have been horrified.

Well the State certainly lets carers down, it chews us up and then spits us out when we are no longer needed.

So when I hear some well meaning but ineffectual social worker pontificating about carers needing to take care of themselves it takes every last vestige of my willpower not to throttle them. :rotfl:

Anyway i shall be awol for a few days, visiting a friend. Hope you all stay well. Keep searching for answers and doing all you can to help yourselves.

Wow, that is unbelievable, how awful that you had to jump through so many hoops to even get a little bit of basic help.:(

It does seem to vary due to where you live as well, a postcode lottery, as someone else on here said.

Wednesday2000

I have to take my kitty to the vet this morning.

I'm feeling sad as it is the first time I've gone to the vet since having another cat put to sleep. The cat I had put to sleep was 18 years old and on various meds but not improving and had stopped eating. I felt like bawling afterwards as I was on my own at the vet as my husband was ill and I had to take the empty cat basket on the bus home with me. I managed not to cry until I got home. I wonder if going there today will trigger me.:(

I'm also feeling a little bit spaced out from taking the anti-depressant at night, it makes me feel like I don't have a clear head in the morning. I wrote down everything I need to tell the vet about my cat on a piece of paper in case I forget. It could be the so-called "fibro fog" as well.

pollyanna_26

Sending you a gentle non painful hug Wednesday . How ever many years go by we still remember sad days at the vets . It's a good idea to write things down . My life has been running on lists and various bits of paper for years . The trick is to remember to take the darn things with you
You will get that feeling with ads . Sometimes going to bed earlier can give you time in the morning to clear your head a little .
As for the claim ask any questions you like here we will be able to help .
polly x

candygirl

Hope your cat's ok WEDNESDAY :A It's almost a year since my Candy dog was pts, at age 14 after a series of debilitating strokes 😣I vowed I'd never get another pup, but Buddy was lonely, n so Bonnie arrived 😁
Advice 're claiming any benefit nowadays, get welfare rights to go through the forms with you, as they pick up stuff you might've missed

pollyanna_26

I imagine Bonnie is now more of a hearthrug than a hot water bottle now Candy. The year is really flying by . Henry and I have had a little wander around the bedroom carpets and thoughts are turning to something to eat . It's a lot cooler today so soup or something for now I think .
Good advice on having the form checked I've been handling DDs for years and as a former CS as they used to call it keep very up to date with changes in policy and forms .
It's worth either reading or if you have a printer copying the form you will find online Wednesday That way you will have time to do your copy bit by bit , make changes if needed and have time to transfer your final version section by section to the form from DWP over the period before the the form needs to be sent back .
Less stressful and exhausting .
polly

Wednesday2000

Thanks for the advice again!:)

My cat has to stay in overnight as she has jaundice and she is also dehydrated so she has to be put on a drip. She has to have blood and urine tests so they can see what the problem is. Aw, I felt sorry for her as she hates going to the vet. She wasn't mewing as loud as normal in the cat carrier so she must be feeling very under the weather.:(

LameWolf

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

It's a very trite expression which I myself have used to say " Look after yourself " but really who cares for the carer?

The person the carer's caring for, in this household, that's who. It's awful having to be cared for, it really is - you never stop feeling guilty for being a "nuisance". You try to manage as many things as you possibly can by yourself (with the aid of gadgets - I do love gadgets) - but when it comes to the crunch, there are some things that are just impossible.

It's much harder too, since Mr LW retired; I can't hide the fact when I have a fall, for instance, because he's here at the time, and knows when it happens.:cool:

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

My cat has to stay in overnight as she has jaundice and she is also dehydrated so she has to be put on a drip. She has to have blood and urine tests so they can see what the problem is. Aw, I felt sorry for her as she hates going to the vet. She wasn't mewing as loud as normal in the cat carrier so she must be feeling very under the weather.:(

(((HUGS))) Wednesday; and healing vibes for your pudd'n-cat.

pollyanna_26

LW I thought long and hard before writing " Who cares for the carer "
I'm very mindful of all who post or follow this thread . I'm also constantly aware of how needing help impacts on my daughter .
As the carer situation had had an obvious part to play in the case of Wednesday, LL myself too I felt it wasn't right to dismiss the subject for thread members trying to find their way through poor health situations . I neither meant hurt or upset to any here but it is a trigger .
Nothing has been said that hasn't placed the blame on the care system .
Like you my daughter doesn't want them near and her benefit and a bit from me as and when pay for the things she needs to improve things .
Nothing huge but day to day stuff , shower stool and other aids .
The transit wheelchair wasn't expensive . I know people who spend more on daft rubbish in an hour on the high st .
I don't begrudge a moment of the caring years apart from the years before I realised you could challenge the system , fight back and find a better way .
polly

Wednesday I know you will worry until your mog is back home .
You can't do what the v e t can ( years of spelling the word to stop an escape plan ) Hopefully you'll have her home soon .
Well done on getting her into the carrier , I've never managed that ever . Even the sickest fought tooth and claw .
polly