Bless you.ephemerid wrote:This is for Mr. and Mrs. OhSo - this is meant with the deepest of respect.
I am assuming you are attending the Royal Berkshire for all this.
If so, you can ring the PALS on 0118 322 8338 or email talktous@royalberkshire.nhs.uk and ask if they have hospital volunteers who offer lifts.
Lots of hospitals do - it's worth a try. They may also be able to arrange hospital or ambulance transport for you - something that the clinics really should have considered under the circumstances.
Also - Macmillan is not just for the end of life. These skilled nurses and case workers are there for anyone who has cancer at any point - Mr.OhSo has a definitive diagnosis and you have every right to ask for their help. At Royal Berks they are on 0118 322 8700.
They know a lot about benefits and other issues - both of you may well have entitlement to DLA (not PIP as you are both over 64) and you can be fast-tracked by Macmillan staff who a brilliant at it.
You are possibly entitled to help on the grounds of your eyesight; Mr.OhSo will certainly be entitled to support as he has cancer and is due to have treatment for it - this could help with the costs of all this, which your pensions alone are not designed for.
However independent you both are, there comes a time when you have to face up to the fact that maybe, just maybe, you need a bit more help now you are getting older and now that your incomes and abilities are changing.
It would appear that your lovely man is developing a few problems - or maybe they have been there for some time but there has been no way of knowing - but he must accept that he is poorly and ask for whatever help is available.
I have sent a PM and I hope you don't mind me saying all this. You do not have to worry in this way and you have paid all your life into a system that you now, through no fault of your own, have real need of. Use it.
I did ask about transport when Mr Ohso was first diagnosed and the nurse I spoke to said we'd have to go through our doctor for it. They're not very helpful, so they'll be last resort.
I finally got my eyes fixed, so I wouldn't qualify now. But I suspect we shall need some help. Being nearer to a hospital was what prompted us to apply for sheltered accommodation back in Reading, but we're still seventh on the list.
It's been two years since we applied but I guess we should have done it earlier.
I've PM'd you back.