Ramblings

Have things improved....mmmmmm  well my mood has, though the practicalities of life have not .
So lets answer a few questions on my last post ,
Sadly you are not allowed to video these assessments though we did have our case worker there as an  impartial witness , some people have taped them without anyone being aware and there have been attempts to prosecute some assessors but the DWP and Capita refuse to provide their identities and its progressing to the High Court to whom the DWP and Capita are not responding to.
You must provide all your evidence of disability to the assessor on the day , we were not due for reassessment for another year so dont have a lot that is up to date , she refused to look at what we did have and we cant now submit it at a later date , they have just refused the last consultants report we sent them . Ho hum we will take it to the tribunal with us , in the distant future when we get a date .
The mandatory reconsideration was sent back as refused so it does have to be a tribunal .Yes our caseworker is handling the appeal process , bless her she needs a medal .
So thats it. we are at a bit of a dead end until we get the dates and we gather theres a huge backlog at the moment
So now lets get to the cheerful stuff , my wageslip shows about half what i expected for this month , nothing changing their , still hoping i dont have to give up work just so we can get the rent payed , the Welfare Help have just passed the buck back to the caseworker again , insisted we apply again for a different variation of ESA that we have tried before and they just say we arent entitled to ...AARRGGHH
Big plus i did a car boot sale that made a bit more than usual so ive splurged on yellow label turkey mince and liver and dreadful cheap sausages so we wont starve , meanwhile im trying to be an ostrich over the mountains of apples and pears we are currently infested with ..lol  The huge potato crop needs lifting im using my 8 year old slave a lot more now, he doesnt seem to mind that  im now his only childcare due to him being a very naughty boy at holiday club
 Raspberry glut is very visably coming in the next couple of weeks then its cob nuts , so easy to store, then im thinking its time to find a cheap grinder cum blender and make nuts for baking ...seems like a good idea but i cant find much about using native nuts to cook with , but im game .
Just remembered i have a gallon of red wine vinegar , it was cheap thats my excuse, so may try pickled pears im sure it was a hairy biker recipe ?
Not much canning im afraid , due to electric costs , does my head in, ive a large collection of Kilners that i wont be able to afford to fill this year ......being skint is no fun at all !!!

Shock!!! PIP

Well today we received our copies of Mr Bah Humbugs PIP report , ive just read through it and im frankly gobsmacked , its just a vast tissue of lies , not even small lies these are huge ones . Apparently he can bend down and touch his knees and practically gambol around the house!!! he was observed to walk  200 metres unaided He has no incontinence issues , didnt sob through part of the assessment , in fact hes practically fully healthy can cook for himself , shouldnt need any help with bathing or toileting and is mentally just fine . And his wrist operation has cured him !! he even got marked down for attending church!! which we do once in a blue moon .
FFS have these people no shame .
I really hope theres a special place in hell for the woman who did this assessment , the one who turned up late , had him sobbing in under 5 minutes , never asked him to walk and just pointed to a chair in the garden and asked if he could get there . She can clean him up when hes sobbing and apologising when hes soiled himself and she can  do his endless washing . Hes so embarrassed at what hes been reduced to it makes me want to cry every day . Yes he was clean and well presented , so if your disabled you should be filthy and and dressed in rags . And lets be honest hes clean and tidy because i keep him so . She should have to see him try to cook a microwave meal then be unable to get the film off it and end up with it all over the kitchen . Yes he can make a pot noodle , if someone takes the lid off  and only puts enough water in the kettle for what hes doing . She can mop up the trail of blood when hes constantly cutting himself  because he has no feeling . Or even better lets see what she has to say about the self harm scars his arms are covered in , many more just recently due to this sorry situation she has created .  And lets not forget 80% of those with my partners spinal problem kill themselves within 2 years of diagnosis , because its impossible to take away the pain without drugging him into a coma and hes tried to leave this world on more than one occasion already
And yes i am crying writing this  ...............

Trapped

Well thats what it feels like , im surrounded by so called professional help that doesnt appear to be much bleedin help !!! case workers are messing about over  juristiction issues.
 My daughter being in the legal profession is refusing to pay the rent because shes of the legal profession and they have given us nothing to confirm the payment arrangement just a scrap of paper with a couple of figures and dates ...AARRRGGGHHH
Lincoln Hospital are driving me nuts Mr Bah Humbug was referred back in December for an ENT appointment we waited 6 months as this is none urgent , then the appointments arrived 4 times and each was cancelled over the phone and rescheduled , then they cancelled again and nothing , so while chasing up another appointment I asked what was happening and they said he had been discharged for repeated none attendance!!! This is the second time in the last couple of months that this has happened with appointments at Lincoln Hospital , it goes on his record that he doesnt attend and that could be used against him at his coming tribunal!!!  I was told they couldnt change what is on his records and it was his own fault for wasting NHS resources !!!
So I marched to the GPS spoke to the lovely sentient receptionist and she made me an appointment to speak to the practice manager , which when i showed her this had happened twice in such a short period of time came to the same conclusion I did , they are doing this to massage their figures for seeing people within so many weeks , if it wasnt for the fact that Mr BH has complex needs we wouldnt have spotted this , they could be doing this to loads of people , then claiming its an error if people question it . Because your discharged you go to the bottom of the list again ...AARRGGHH  the GP has put in a formal complaint .
Im leaving voicemails here there and everywhere trying to sort these messes out  , nobody gets back to me , apparently its the holiday season so nobody is available , my partner doesnt need a carer he needs a full time secretary !!
Todays mission try to get in touch with a couple of the other consultants secretarys about the reports he needs for his tribunal , GP refuses to help because they dont get paid for it !!  we may have to pay for the letters , the DWP doesnt ask for anything from the medical profession it is all down to you the disabled person to prove that you have any disability  , they only ask your GP for a copy of your medical records , if youve ever accesed your GP records online you realise that there very patchy , some of the locums records make no sense and it probably bears little resemblance to your current condition , there may also be lots of coded acronyms from years back about you being a malingerer , hard work etc etc , GP records seem to have approved immensely since patients have the right to read them , what a surprise...lol
Im sorry if im boring you all to tears , it feels like im documenting the decline and fall of  the NHS for posterity at the moment , but i do feel that its something that needs to be put on public record

We're Off To See The Wizard

Well finally we got Mr Bah Humbugs Urgent Head CT results  , we also got to see the newest doctor at our GPs .  One who appears to be actually qualified , he came out of his office looked at MR Bah Humbug hobbling down the corridor and looked at me aghast .  Hes had a very bad week pain wise and one side of his body has visibly dropped yet again .  Hes mentally terrible, very irritated by things not working in his body and lashing out at everyone in frustration , one of those weeks when i want to run screaming for the hills .
So his head CT is perfectly fine , no stroke , no brain shrinkage, which has cheered up MR BAh Humbug a lot , it means he gets to keep his driving licence, not that hes fit to drive and not that i would let him at the moment , but the thought is there .
The Dr is referring us to neurology at Sheffield , which is where theyve been trying to refer him on and off for 3 years , hes had to lay it on heavy with the referral because most now get rejected at committee , we need to be careful not to see the GP who cancels all the referrals .
He was telling us there is now no Neurology , Mental Health or ENT service in the whole of Lincolnshire , he had a list of other hospitals the Nearest being Nottingham and Sheffield , we are familiar with Sheffield and Mr BH usually has to go there for his spinal problems . But as the GP points out this is a lot of use for the elderly and those without transport or much income , which is us im afraid , but he needs to go , so we will toddle off .
Well we got a visit from the Council this week about the rent , they were nice people and explained the decision  to us , apparently because we now have virtually no income , we must  pay half the rent each week , or rather my daughter must because her income is so high , this has gone down like a ton of bricks we have had teenage toddler tantrums of the first order , not bad for a 25 year old , shes told us shes leaving and taking her son with her , apparently her current car payments are more than me and Mr Bah Humbug have been living and running a house on for the last 2 years !!  Shes always paid into the house, bought a few groceries , paid for the water and took me on treats once a year , but i dont think shes ever considered just what having a home cost wise amounts to , you can cut the atmosphere with a knife , so i havent a clue what is going to happen , but if she doesnt pay they will start the eviction process at  the end of the month if she leaves they start the housing benefit again ...Bizarre
They then offered us food bank vouchers, yet again we refused the gardens running full bore now , plus we have to have appointments with Welfare Rights and The Council Debt Counselling Service . It seems there are quite a few people in this boat particularly in this area and it would seem its the same PIP assessor who has marked down everyone to nil points and blatantly lied through her teeth , the council is looking into it and have taken copies of the paperwork we have received .
I was once again told im daft for even trying to work , that i should be receiving carers allowance , which i cant get because of the PIP decision and that they will review the rent arrears in December . Its all very soul destroying , on one hand we have a Government bragging that Work Pays but in reality your far better off for sitting staring at a wall all day.

Slavery

Lets talk about something thats hit the news big time here in Lincolnshire . Now some of you may know I work part time for the Darkside , something im not allowed to talk about , they are truly crap employers .
I am familiar with the Rooney family both through my job and the fact that they are local legends , and theyve all been found guilty of modern day slavery offences and robbing the vulnerable .

http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2017/08/notorious-family-members-convicted-modern-slavery-lincolnshire/

Couldnt happen to a nicer bunch of folks , they give travellers a bad name , in fact they give the human race a bad name.
So the purpose of this rant is to bring up a few things ive seen over a number of years ,  that appear to be more common. than people realise .
The controlling males of both the Asian and Eastern European varieties  , this isnt saying  that other nationalities dont do these things . It seems to be very comman for males working here to bring theyre spouses and families  here . Then they socially isolate them , the women never go out except escorted by the male , therefore they never learn any English and the male does all the talking for them , with government agencies , schools etc etc . Some have been here for 10 years or more and cant even communicate for basic things , its abuse of a dreadful sort , they have no access to money , no friends and are trapped sometimes with partners who are physically abusive as well .

The abuse of migrant workers , ive seen many cases of vulnerable people working in this country who are abused shockingly by there employers , some have been here years but there employers cynically take the piss , i met a lovely middle aged lady , eastern European  who had been ill for several weeks had submitted a sick note to her employer and received not a penny of her statutory sick pay , she had been here and paying national insurance for 7 years . So the government will be paying her employer the money and they should be paying her it . I pointed this out and she stated that she had raised this and she was told to shut up or lose her job .  This is not a tiny employer they are a medium sized company , this lady works unpaid overtime , she is expected to work 12 hours a day 6 days a week and always earns the same 40 hour week minimum wage .

Weirdest conversation of the lot a young English Asian man who had married a girl from the home country and her parents had given them a tandoori chef as a wedding present!! This grinning little bloke who spoke no English but was an amazing cook was living in the happy couples garage, quite happily , he was indentured to the brides family in Pakistan because of debts owed by his family . The lad was horrified and was trying to sort out the immigration status of the poor bloke in the garage . But as he said his whole extended family couldnt see what the problem was , they all "employ" staff in a similar vein in their indian restaurants .

So heres a few horror stories to remind you that unless you really look you dont see the awful things that are going on around you , theres a lot of people who quote the "stealing our jobs " mantra who have no idea what is actually happening in this country . Slavery is alive and we are in Lincolnshire not London , open your eyes and look !!

Doctor Tales

Well heres a surprise , we saw a useful member of the medical profession yesterday, a wee child ,bum doctor consultant , he informed Mr BH that he is 99.99% sure that he doesnt have bowel cancer or anything else sinister down in the depths , but will book him another CT scan to confirm last years MRI scans , he says that all the bottom half problems Mr BH is having ,from the gradual deterioration of his spine discs and bone causing more and more nerve damage .  He says they cant do a colonoscopy as it would do more damage than good  because of the nerve damage and hes somewhat baffled that a GP  would suggest this . We did point out that the said GP had sent Mr BH for physio because there is nothing showing on his MRI to show why he is in constant pain . We got a raised eyebrow at that point .  So thats one appointment down and 2 more scans to add to the list hes awaiting .
We are still awaiting the results of his head CT its been sat at the doctors for over a week but he hasnt been able to get an appointment , no change there .
Here is a tale told to me by Mr Bah Humbugs friend , hes a bloke that doesnt bother his doctor very often but he recently went into his local GP surgery to book an appointment , next to reception was a very large poster stating you must book 2 appointments if you have more than one problem , so he asked for 2 appointments only to be told he couldnt book 2 appointments they needed  to be booked for different days and times and he must ring at 8.30 in the morning to book each appointment they no longer book appointments at the desk .
Now Mr BHs friend works and is unable to ring at 8.30  every day until he gets an appointment so he pointed out this fact , he was then told if he was at work he obviously didnt need an appointment .
At this point he had to walk away .
He managed to ring up 2 days on the trot only to be told there were no appointments, on the third day he finally got through as far as the triage nurse who told him to ring again tomorrow to take paracetamol and fluids and go to bed .  at which point he pointed out his testicles were after 5 days of trying to get an appointment, now the size of a football and the paracetamol wernt doing a whole lot , they sent an ambulance!!! he was at work !!

Skint

Well I excelled myself  this weekend and survived the wet muddy hell of the scooter rally.  Thanks to his mate sponsoring the event for us , bores me to tears but it made Mr BH a happy man he got to spend lots of time talking gibberish with his mates  and i mostly slept through the whole event ..lol

As usual his mates are suitably appalled by the state hes in , most hadnt seen him since last summer , his mate was a huge help with the getting him around and  the up  in a morning side of things . But by Saturday Night he was exhausted and because of the mud, content to hold court in the tent . He was most impressed that he wasnt the most crippled there , a couple were wandering round with portable oxygen , endless crutches and sticks and a bloke with Motor Neurone in an electric wheelchair with a pair of carers kept getting stuck in the mud and having to be rescued it was a memorial rally for a friend of Mr BH who died of cancer and were all getting old .   I once again proved myself to be weird and an oddball by not drinking , snoring by 9pm  and walking the mile and a half into Syston  to wander round the charity shops . I think the last act just appalled everyone...lol   Didnt  buy a thing not due to poverty but because they were so damned expensive , the one notable exception The Caudes Equines Shop , never seen a shop with so much craft stuff , mountains of it , hidden away in a tiny modern shopping precinct . glorious , cheap and full of wonderful . But I was good and didnt buy a thing, its all about needs not wants at the moment .

On the shopping front the kids are being wonderful , though im not so sure about the nutrition levels of what they buy , diets are very much out of the window for the foreseeable future , im still wasting away, because there are a lot of things i cant eat due to my insides having been reorganised . Im still the size of a hippo but im back to my small hippo clothes at the moment .

This months shopping list will include , sugar for jam making , razors for my pet ewok , toilet rolls thanks to Penny the toilet roll killer who is growing at a rate of knots . Gram Flour , sack of Onions, something i dont grow because they are so cheap to buy . Endless everyday value from Tesco because its the nearest supermarket and they keep sending me vouchers that make a big difference even Tescos realise were poverty stricken. All topped up by the occasional yellow label item from the Coop in the next village . I did manage to score a good bagfull  yesterday thanks to my son , £3.75 for loads of bread, new potatoes in herb butter and mushrooms . Sadly the Moy Park chicken shop is under renovation till the 7th so i cant do a chicken run , im hoping the prices dont go up due to the renovation , we will see .  Now I just need to see if payday comes around on Friday , I await this with interest!!