Can we get any help?

hi. you are in a difficult situation already with the worry of a husband with cancer and 3 children to care for without the extra financial worries.have you tried calling tax credits and telling them of your husbands condition? As a working single parent i recieve tax credits and I now recievea disability payment too(this may be bacause i am terminal though).You could also try speaking to macmillan because they know alot about what you can claim.Also they can often help out if you are in need of something in particular that you cant afford at present due to circumstances ie,uniforms for the children or a short break away. Call them for a visit.Let us know how you get on. xx

I really dont know if this is of any help but I found this link. Might be worth a look and a phone call.

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Get_Support/Financial_help/Financial_help.as...

Its a bugger isnt it - enough on our plates yet having to worry about money as well.

I wish you well and hope you get something resolved to help out.

Take care
Lesley xxx

Do you have a Cancer MacMillan nurse? I found mine was really good at offering to help with sourcing extra/alternative finances. Hope you find a solution as we all know that the illness is quite enough to cope with without having to worry about stretching incomes that have drastically shrunk and trying to cut corners. All the very best xxx Penny

Yes, I do sympathise! Worrying about money is hardly conducive to making a full recovery, yet so many seem to feel pressured by the system.
We have one son and have seen our join income drop from £45k to £13k, as both my wife & I are ill - my wife permanently so. (I'm still living in hope!) I don't understand why IB is a short-term award for a long-term condition OR why we still have to pay the full Council Tax. (I'm moaning now) We can only do this by raiding our savings. It seems that the system is designed to keep you poor!

My husband got diagnosed in january 2008.
3 month chemo, ivor lewis surgery, 3 month chemo.
he was made redundant while he was undergoing his treatment so no work to go back to.
no redundancy payouts here.
he could have managed his old work part time. he can not apply to get another work since he is 25 kilos less what he was and he is in a bad shape and low on energy since he can't eat that much.
we do not live in UK, but in a "british colony".
here we do not get any help when sickness and only when accident.
if he had broken a leg he would have been granted 80% of his income.
so we lost his income early this year and when applying to a travel allownace we were not to get that since he had used his private surgery insurence to do his surgery private, if you can have a insurence then you do not get the travel allowance!
only reason he used his private insurence was that he had been in the public hospital when diagnosed and was placed in room with dying elderly cancer paetients and did not want that again.
he has applied to get invalids benefit but here they look at what his wife earns and sees that a his income!
even if his wife only earns basic low pay it is still concerned as his pay and even though his sicknes has caused us extra costs.
we are now trying to sell our house to make ends meet.
we are a bit scared of not being able to sell our house before the bank takes it since we were renovating when he fell sick and we have not been able to continue renovation because of sicknes and loss of income.
so we are to put a house that has had all wallpaper and floors torn out on the market since he fell sick in the middle of renovation.
he has been given no rehab since his suregry costed what the had on his insurence and we have been told to go home and figure out how to adjust to this his new life with severe dumping syndrome and pains.
local cancer support groups only hands out phampletts of how to eat well after cancer treatment! we that don't even know how to eat!
colleagues at husbands old work and at my work thought we would get benefits and support and they are as chocked as we are of that there is nothing to get.
In cases like this you wish you did believe in god so you could ask for strength.

Thought everyone had gone independent years ago, seeing what a useless dump this place is - however we do at least get a minimum sickness benefit if we have nothing to live on. It must be a terrible problem with the house half done. Were you both born in this place or did you emigrate in order to buy the property and do it up? The property market in the UK at the moment has gone into a dive, and everyone is knocking loads off selling prices and still sitting there. As you point out, anyone who HAS to sell is in trouble. I don't know if it the same where you are.

Do either of you have any family? I presume after the comments about "elderly" patients that you are relatively young. I wondered if anyone in the family would come to your aid, either to help with the house or lending you some money. I think that many of us struggle with the cost of cancer. I had to pay £500 in taxi fares when I was on radio and chemo at the same time. We don't have a car. The irony is that I'd bought a month's travel permit for buses before I started to save me a bit of money - then was way too ill to use it, so that money was wasted too!

I lost my job as well, and am not able to get another one now as I am stamped "Terminal". In fact no-one seems to even want me as a volunteer. I think people only see the cancer, not the person.

Please keep us posted as to developments. With very best wishes, Penny

Hi Penny,

"british colony" within "" :)

I am scandinavian and shifted here 10 years ago since my husband lives here.
His family came from UK to here 4 generations ago.
Young country with most people from UK.
Belongs to the commonewealth but is a independent country today.
With me not born here I know some people might say that I talk negative thing about this country when I air this problem.
(I just and only wish this country would address this problem with only compensating people that have accidents and not serious sickness for all that lives in this country)
I did join in and try to spread the word about this problem 2 years ago and helped a group of terminal sick people to "advertise" this problem. (put up posters for them)
Many that live here are not aware of that they get no compensation at all if they get terminal illness.
A year after that I volontered to put up posters for equity for illness then my husband got sick!
I have no family at all here so it has been a tough year with working full time and driving to and from the hospital and also beeing the "nurse" at home.
(home-leave him at hospital as day patient thru chemo -turn around and drive to work - work full day- pick up at hospital - drive home has been a 90 km round trip!) all his chemo is over now and it feels as if I am only waiting for cancer to pop up elsewhere in his body,,or if I get sick what happens then?
Luckily we have no children.
He has relatives that he hardly never see and we got an e-mail that told us to cheer up and that almost everyone gets cancer these days!
People seem to think that a cancer where less than 30% chance and maximum 3 years only can be cured!
First months I couldn't sleep and just sat in front of the pc searching for facts.
I am getting in to some kind of balance now and try not to worry but still have those days when I think about if he gets that sick so I can't look after him at home and also work full time.

You sound an amazing woman keep your chin up. The Disability Discrimination Act Part II affords equality employment right protection to employees cancer is catagorised as a long term condition under this Act. therefore from the date of diagnosis employees are protected. The employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments which can cover time off for medical treatment, an adaption to the workplace ( not excessively expensive beyond the reasonabless of the imposition of cost on the employer ). The list of reasonable adjustments covers several areas. However as a carer a recent case gave carers of disabled people ( cancer also ) equal rights the case COLEMAN V ATTRIDGE LAW AND STEVE LAW and I quote from the finding ..." the prohibition of direct discrimination laid down therein is not limited only to people who are disabled. Consequently, where an employer treats an employee who is not himself disabled less favourably than another employee in a comparable situation, and it is established that the less favourable treatment of that employee is based on the disability of his child, whose care is provided primarily by that employee, such treatment is contrary to the prohibition of direct discrimination laid down by the directive..." This also covers harassment in the workplace as also covered by this case.

Anyone with cancer related employment problems contact The Commission for Human Rights and Equality. Their advice is free and in some cases they may assist in bringing a case under the DDA.

Part III of the DDA covers goods, services and public bodies. I was a foster carer until recently and I am covered under Part III which currently I am seeking advice upon.

A reasonable adjustment may be part time work? The onus is on your employer to make a reasonable adjustment not for you to have no choice and give up work.

The first three months of his chemo he did go to work every day when he wasn't at the hospital!
he did struggle to go there but he did.
after surgery he was flat out and when he started his chemo again he was way too sick to work.
we only have 5-10 days of sick pay here and when he was doing his last week of chemo his boss came and knocked on the door and told that the company had less incoming order and that he had no work for him.
His boss thought we had benefits as being sick, he was not aware of that we had used all our savings.
There was never any redundancy pay outs, they just can do like this here.
His surgery was in may so since then it is just my low income that has to last for both of us.
Me being scandinavian, used to social net and back up I never thought it could be as bad as it is here.
I just hope we can clean out the house and we have started to get rid of things, my hubbie has always been a regular steptoe and son and just his garage is a night mare to empty. Working hard on getting rid of things and emptying out and hope we have made house that empty so we can put it on the open market within 1-2 months.
The clutter would make it harder to sell.
Throwing away things and packing all our stuff we are to keep in boxes.
Hopefully we have the house sold within 4-6 months and can pay off the mortgage and shift to something cheaper.
If we just get the house sorted and cleaned up and sold and we can get in to something with no mortgage then we have won half the batle! Praying that he wil stay healthy and strong and see us in a "new" house.
he has ben worried about if he "falls off the pearch" before I am in a cheaper house.
He wants to be in on next step in our life in a another house and with a better eceonomy, but it is hard with all stuff and house in a mess.
Would need a team of people to carry all out and do the house up.
"Funny thing" they have had DIY disaster programmes on tv, I tried to join up to one of those and took pictures of the house room by room and when at last page to enter this DIY rescue, online thing, you had to tell that you had at least 10 friends that could be there and work during renovation and also tell how many that were proper tradesmen!
we do not have 10 friends and know no trades people, if we had 10 friends then I think they should be here and help us and then I would not apply to a DIY rescue tv program.
Fact is that my husband only has one friend and they do not see each other that often,,hisfriend travels and works abroad,,and shows up here 1-2 a year and when I tried to find him thru his sister to tell that my husband is sick, then he never called us and I called his sister agin and she said that her brother did not want to contact my husband since he was sick!!! he saw no reason to talk to him just becasue he was sick!
what kind of friend is that?

I have just been told that here so do people divorce each other when someone gets seriouss sick since you can then get invalids pension when you have no spouse that supports you!
that would never happen!

selection for redundancy because of cancer is against the DDA. There is a time limit to lodge a claim I believe it is 3 months from the date of redundancy. Speak to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights they will advise you and may even assist in lodging a case. Regards.