PIP MS & Breast Cancer

LL30

Evening all,

Wondering if anyone could advise. A good friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. The good news is it is already responding to treatment (yay!) but she still has a way to go (6 months chemo and then double mastectomy). She's only young, 35, and was also diagnosed with MS when she was 19. She was receiving LRC on DLA for this, but she's had her PIP transfer form which has to be submitted within the next two weeks. She's obviously working through the side effects of chemo at present, and already has ESA in place, alongside HB, so at least these elements are sorted, but PIP needs to be dealt with.

I understand with PIP that you have to have had the condition for 6 months and it's this which is concerning me when helping her with the form. She will not have had the diagnosis for her cancer for long enough at the point the form has to be returned. The treatment however is making her feel terrible and is impacting her MS and exacerbating her symptoms. Is it right to include this in the form, or will it be discounted as the cancer doesn't 'qualify' at the moment? It's a bit of a complex interplay between the two conditions and the impact of the treatment for one which doesn't 'count' and one which does.

Any input appreciated,

Thank you.

tomtom256

I would include, if they ignore it, at least it's on there, however if it's not on the form they cannot include it.

I would also argue that she has potentially had it for the 6 months period and that it has only recently being diagnosed.

poppy12345

LL30 wrote: »

Evening all,

Wondering if anyone could advise. A good friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. The good news is it is already responding to treatment (yay!) but she still has a way to go (6 months chemo and then double mastectomy). She's only young, 35, and was also diagnosed with MS when she was 19. She was receiving LRC on DLA for this, but she's had her PIP transfer form which has to be submitted within the next two weeks. She's obviously working through the side effects of chemo at present, and already has ESA in place, alongside HB, so at least these elements are sorted, but PIP needs to be dealt with.

I understand with PIP that you have to have had the condition for 6 months and it's this which is concerning me when helping her with the form. She will not have had the diagnosis for her cancer for long enough at the point the form has to be returned. The treatment however is making her feel terrible and is impacting her MS and exacerbating her symptoms. Is it right to include this in the form, or will it be discounted as the cancer doesn't 'qualify' at the moment? It's a bit of a complex interplay between the two conditions and the impact of the treatment for one which doesn't 'count' and one which does.

Any input appreciated,

Thank you.

That's incorrect, you must have had the difficulties for 3 months and expect them to last a further 9 months. Shown here https://www.gov.uk/pip/eligibility

Alice_Holt

As poppy says it's 3 months.

Absolutely include it on the PIP form.
Particularly in relation to fatigue, tiredness, slowness in doing and repeating activities
i.e. the reliability criteria for performing the PIP activities (see links below).

My best advice would be that she gets help with the form from a Macmillan welfare advisor.
She should ask her cancer nurse for a referral
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/organising/benefits-and-financial-support/benefits-and-your-rights

Other resources include:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/if-you-get-dla/
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-claims
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system
https://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-resources/claiming-personal-independence-payment-booklet
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf (page 86 on).

You can best help your friend by ensuring she gets assistance to complete the PIP form.
Either Macmillan, CAB, or the MS society.
All will be very busy, with a wait for an appointment - so, she needs to contact them asap to meet the PIP timescales.

w06

but I'd make sure that it's made clear that not everything is due to the breast cancer and chemo. There's somewhere can't recall whether here or another forum and account of someone losing their entitlement on transfer because all of their difficulties were attributed to a recent injury when in fact half of them were due to pre-existent and long standing illness.

Probably worth distinguishing baseline (pre chemo) and current levels of function, so that it's clear. It's likely that if the effects of chemo are included in the award it would be a short award so that it's reviewed after chemo has finished

teddysmum

w06 wrote: »

but I'd make sure that it's made clear that not everything is due to the breast cancer and chemo. There's somewhere can't recall whether here or another forum and account of someone losing their entitlement on transfer because all of their difficulties were attributed to a recent injury when in fact half of them were due to pre-existent and long standing illness.

It was on here : Someone had a broken arm the assessors said that it was only a temporary problem, so the general condition would be improved, when the arm was better.

poppy12345

maninasuit wrote: »

That makes complete sense to me. Isn't it just the same that with the right medication from the doctor many would be feeling a lot more able and not have to claim. Same goes with mental health. I'm not saying that there is a cure but with treatment you will improve enough so as to not need to make a claim.

You clearly have never suffered with mental health!! If you had then you would never had said that!

teddysmum

maninasuit wrote: »

That makes complete sense to me. Isn't it just the same that with the right medication from the doctor many would be feeling a lot more able and not have to claim. Same goes with mental health. I'm not saying that there is a cure but with treatment you will improve enough so as to not need to make a claim.

Not in this case.


The broken arm was incidental ,was not included in the ailments for which the claim was made. Though the arm would heal, it would have no beneficial effect on the person's reason for claiming.