Good news from Birminham

I left off last week moaning about the Benefits agency (Jobcenter Plus) losing our paperwork and vowing to delivery it by hand this time and that's exactly what we tried to do......

We had the address, drove to Sheffield, it's not so far from us, went to the supposed address, nothing there. WHAT!! Drove around a bit trying to find it but it's definitely not there. Stop and make a phone call. Four phone calls later, taking into account being on hold, trying to get through the choices, trying to get the right information .... like 'WHERE IS THIS PLACE' and encountering the most UNHELPFUL people imaginable, including one who hung up on me, I was on the phone 40 minutes. And 40 minutes later was still none the wiser to where the b****y place was. We happened to be parked outside the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, so I decide to go in and ask, we're supposedly right near where we need to be. I explain my predicament to a lovely security guard and after he decided he couldn't help me, rang his friend who has worked on security for the Jobcenter Plus in the past. The outcome ...... it doesn't exist as a physical address and you can't deliver anything to them ..... how convenient for them when they make their excuses of losing things!!!  You would think I would be screaming by now but to be honest I have never felt so beaten by a b*****y system, EVER!!  It's no wonder there are so many people not able to get what they're entitled to, the system is absolutely stacked against you. I've since handed it in to another branch and insisted on a receipt. We'll see what happens now.

But good news elsewhere.  Mark spoke to Birmingham, they've looked at the information we sent and they're prepared to operate. The process is ....  they have to liaise with their Theatre Manager to arrange to have the tools at the same time as there is a bed available. That option is not too complicated apparently. If they don't have the tools the Theatre Manager has to arrange to hire them while also ensuring a bed is available at the same time .... a more complex option apparently. Either way it will be months unfortunately not weeks. So we wait. At some point we will have another meeting with Mr Flint, to discuss exactly what he intends to do once the fixture is out, he and Mark obviously need to be in agreement as to how much he does when he has sight of the damaged area, he can't wake Mark up and have a discussion on the operating table!!

The illusive cat, scared of his own shadow, so seldom seen by anyone .... even me!! He has no worries in the world though.

We've been a right pair this week

Saturday we were supposed to go together to have flu jabs but first thing on Saturday morning, Mark couldn't get out of bed and as time went on we passed the point of no return to get him there on time so I went on my own. While I was there I asked if there was any possibility of tagging him onto the end of the session (the weekend before when he was originally supposed to go we couldn't do that) and she said yes this time. So I go in for my jab, come home and get Mark ready and off we go again for him to have his. He also had a pneumonia jab, something new over the last couple of years apparently. Anyway all done and he goes off for the afternoon and all is well.

Sunday, he's not feeling so good so stays in bed. I get out in the garden and decide to tackle a rose bush I want out. I start with a fork to loosen the earth around it, giving it a bit of welly cos the earth is well compacted, standing on the end of it, it gave way and I crashed to the ground. Not to be beaten, I started tackling it with the spade. Same thing, giving it a bit of well, standing on the end of the handle bouncing a bit to encourage it out and it bounced a bit high and threw me off, straight into the shrub behind me that I had been pruning earlier in the year. It had some very sharp pruned branches. I landed straight on one. Winded, I lay there for a minute trying to breath and establish if I've done any real harm because I hurt everywhere. Felt like I'd punctured a lung. After a few minutes I managed to crawl out, get to my feet, stagger inside to lay down for a while, feeling very sorry for myself. Man it hurt!!!

Mark got up mid afternoon when friends arrived, managed to cook dinner with assistance (thanks Chris) and as the evening went on I got stiffer and stiffer. Dave had to put Mark to bed, I could hardly bend over. What a pair.  Monday, we're suffering some side affects from the flu jab (or so I thought) Mark has been really poorly all week, but I've come out with a raging cold, so that was why I was feeling awful, and still not being able to bend over to do anything, have to keep my back straight, no twisting, no pulling or pushing, what a carry on. It's made me realise how vulnerable we are when I'm not on top form. Just to add to all, I had tests done on Monday to find out where my nerves were trapped causing so much pain in my arms and hands. It turns out it's a severe case of carpal tunnel, couldn't just be a mild case could it. I suppose the fact that I've had it over 10 years with it gradually getting worse could account for that.

We still haven't heard anything from Birmingham yet but Mark really hasn't been bothered about chasing anything up this week. Tonight he's beginning to feel a bit better so lets hope he's on the mend now and will be able to get up tomorrow.

We had the benefits guy AGAIN. Forms been filled in AGAIN. This time I'm going to deliver them by hand, luckily it's only in Sheffield, close by, so they'll have no excuse but to acknowledge us. If it wasn't so stressful dealing with these people it would be comical. The benefits guy is putting in a complaint on our behalf because the whole thing has just become a complete farce. 

Our wonderful benefits

Our wonderful benefits office strikes again. A while back we had a battle just to get a form from them, it took weeks to come so it was precious, we treated it with kid gloves, filled it in carefully with our friendly Benefits Officer, entrusted it to Royal Mail to get it back to them.  We had to pay for a letter from the Doctors just to say Mark needed a wheelchair indoors .... how a tetraplegic was going to suddenly NOT need a wheelchair as soon as he went through his door is anyone's guess!!  So. I ring today to follow up on our precious form because we've heard nothing back and guess what??????  They tell me they don't have it. You've GOT to be kidding me. What do we have to do just to get Mark sorted with the very basic entitlement. How are some people able to get away with benefit fraud when it's so sodding difficult to get anything at all!!  Seems we have to start the process all over again now.

On a more positive note, while I was in Greece, with the help of friends (thanks Mirka and Neil) I managed to get all the details the Consultant here needed to be able to operate on Mark and hopefully take the fixture out. We sent it straight off and are now waiting to hear for sure that he will operate. Although Mark has had a difficult decision to make because the operation doesn't come without some pretty serious outcomes, like the possible loss of movement in his hands, he is pretty certain he will go ahead with it. Last night he forgot to take his bedtime meds and has been in bed all day in serious pain and feeling really poorly, those times, on top of days on end when he can't get out of bed because of the pain has made the decision easier for him. He just wants to get on with his life.

On an even more positive note, he's really enjoying his new wet room and having a shower every morning:-)