DLA Dr report

seamonkey
seamonkey Member Posts: 323
edited 17. Jul 2011, 14:28 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi all,
Once again i turn to the forum when ive had a knock back. To get advice and support by folks that know what it is like.
I recieved a copy of DLA Dr assessment as with the help of CAB am appealing. What an utterly heart wrenching report.
She has omitted lots of info and says there is no medical reason why i should have any pains or loss of mobility. My movements were inconsistent with any known medical condition.
Thats great then she will have no reason not to swap bodies with me even for a day!
Yes as she says i managed to get tablets from my top kitchen cupboard, what she doesnt say is that they were on lower shelf and kitchen was fitted by my OH who lowered them from their standard height so i didnt have to stretch to reach. Which means i didnt have to rotate my shouldter but just lift my forarm up. Everything she said I have a reason for. Yes i can get into car myself. But when i dont have the kids to help it takes longer causes me more pain and makes me more tired.
Yesterday i was in tears and so upset at the though someone would say i was making it up. aparently all i need is counciling and help to lose weight. Great i cant wait to be cured of my imaginary illness.
Im cross now and very very angry. Its a shame the DR doesnt have to come to the tribunal.
It makes me sick that others have been treated like this, if it wasnt for the fact that it would make the kids lives easier if i had extra money to pay for help arnd house i would just leave it. But they deserve to have a mum who isnt so tired every evening after doing basic house work etc that she has no patience and no energy to play/ help with home work etc.
That Dr would be a joke if she she wasnt playing with peoples lives that are already hard enough!
I am sorry to have ranted. I do feel alot better for it though, Im sure on here somewhere will be someone that has been treated like this.
I wish you all well and hope its a good day for you all,
Best wishes
seamonkey
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Comments

  • valval
    valval Member Posts: 14,911
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    do not have any advice for you but do have a bucket of hugs to leave for you it must have been awful to read it but do not give up it not what real docs think it just them trying to get out of paying you what you are entitled to so head up shoulders back and give them what for val
    val
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I don't know where they drag these doctors up from but, they must be the people who are unable to find a proper job. It is frustrating and not only that it makes you feel depressed to be treated like that. I have to have another 're-assessment' on 1st of July and I'm fed up, so I know how you feel

    I hope you don't let it spoil things too much, I feel if you do they've won round 1! :wink: Lots of love, from anothe passenger in the same boat! :wink: Love Suexxx
  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you both
    Knowing im not the only one to be seen like this is good.
    Your right I should not let it get to me. I know and have done for 11 years theres something wrong. im not a Dr and its up to them to diagnose and find what the problem is.
    It an terrible shame that any one gets treated like that worse still that those you turn to for help try to make you look like a liar and a thief!!
    We will win in the end!!
    Best wishes to you both and thank you again,
    Seamonkey
  • tkachev
    tkachev Member Posts: 8,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    How often do you see this GP? If she has made inaccurate statements make sure you challenge them. CAB will help you with this and the correct way to challenge.
    It does seem she has made her mind up and probably won't budge with her opinion. Is there anyone else who could help such as a rheumatologist, nurse or consultant?

    I hope you can clear this up and in time for an appeal. Keep a clear mind and don't let it upset you. She is wrong and you just have to make that clear.
    Lots of us can get in a car unaided but yes it is a very painful and a slow process as we cannot move our joints quickly and easily. But this shouldn't stop your right to DLA. After all some drive and still get DLA.

    Best of luck, keep focused Sea monkey as they don't make it easy for us.

    Elizabeth
    Never be bullied into silence.
    Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
    Accept no ones definition of your life

    Define yourself........

    Harvey Fierstein
  • liesa
    liesa Member Posts: 821
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Seamonkey...
    my God i thought i just wrote that!!!
    all except the dr coming to see me...
    i am overweight and have asked for a gastric bypass whch has been accepted and NHS funding allowed, but this will take a long time,
    life is harder for me now, ive had my PR/RA for over 25 years and these were the days when all my kids lived at home and they all did 'chores' for me, i managed just about...
    then when my days and nights rolled into each other because my pain was unbearable with my knee... had tests and showed nothing was wrong.. made me feel like a liar, so my surgeon did an arthroscopy on my knee and found it bone on bone and didnt know how i managed to walk and also accepted my weight gain was due to my knee, the nights i sat downstairs in front of the fire alone and in tears waiting for the painkillers to kick in.... in the end we went for a total knee replacement, which has failed, i have more pain and stiffness now then ever before, except now its not just my GOOD knee, everywhere hurts, a lot of the time its a knock on effect from pain and stiffness cant do much so get stiff again
    my day consists of pain and painkillers, soreness and boredom, the last thing i wanna do is stay indoors feeling sorry for myself but on a good day when i feel i can walk that little bit further i get in the car and go into the smaller part of town but within minutes i feel my legs and hips and knees and wrists start up... i can look forward to someone coming to visit me.. adrenalin running i guess but within a short period of time im back to square one... so i just sit home doing basic stuff joints allowing

    my rhuematologist told me to stop taking the medication and go for the gastric bypass as it will help enormously.... at the cost of me going nuts about surgery, it scares the daylights out of me, surgery on someone weighing in at almost 20 stone isnt good.... he made me feel just like this dr has made you feel!! and my dla got stopped for the middle component of care... did start out a couple of years back as low rate, then renewed and got mobility higher rate and middle rate care and my daughter was down as my carer and came in a lot during the week for company/walk my dogs/housework, and prepare food for us, now they think i can hold the saucepans that i couldnt before, i cant even peel potatoes, even writing this has taken ages where i stop start

    where your tablets are concerned why not get a day by day tablet organiser, i just open the cupboard door and theyre there for me so no fiddling around...

    Good luck and remember we're here for you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    love and hugs
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  • tkachev
    tkachev Member Posts: 8,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry just realised you are talking about a DLA Doc so you have probably never met them more than the once. They are naughty. They do this all the time. They appear to be listening but then put a load of their own interpretations in. Just challenge it Sea monkey.

    E x
    Never be bullied into silence.
    Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
    Accept no ones definition of your life

    Define yourself........

    Harvey Fierstein
  • justinbarrow
    justinbarrow Member Posts: 338
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry to hear you are having a tough time. Hope you get sorted and everything goes well for you :)
  • liesa
    liesa Member Posts: 821
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    this was done to me, we were involved in a bus/ crash over 2 years ago and still waiting for the compensation to be paid, i was injured not bad but hurt my back, still having a bit of pain now and then... anyway i had to see their dr on the insurers for the bus say so, he was really nice to me and wrote exactly as he was asked then i had to see the dr on OUR side... first thing he wrote was 'Mrs Saunders is grossly overweight' dam cheek,this was his opinion... did me being overweight cause the bus to crash into MY car, that was so uncalled for, so i bubullet pointed his unfair write up and that was a year ago, just been offered so hopefully it should now be sorted really soon
    love and hugs
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  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you all for your replies,
    I have pointed out all the errors or lack of info that the Dr wrote in report, there are 26 points I made.
    My own GP who sees me all the time has already written to them pointing out that i have a disability with a huge impact on my mobility and they should consider me virtually unable to walk, she also said lots more but they dont seem to take her report seriously. I also Have a consultant who wrote about my back etc.
    CAB have been great, they so helpful if not for them i would have just said **** it!
    I am 2 - 3 stone over weight and i have been seeing the nurse to do a healthy living programme, i lost 5lb one week due to be weighed again next thursday. DLA DR never asked when i put weight on, she just said over weight. Fact is i put most of it on since last Nov when pains were so bad i could hardly walk, same time as my partner decided to go AWOL and leave me sorting xmas for 4 kids and trying to still work 21 hrs awk.
    Im very nervous about the tribunal as i hate having to tell how this affects me. Im pleased i have this site though.
    Liesa,
    Seems to me if your over weight alot of drs think they can fob you off with just saying to lose weight.
    I do hope you can over come your fear of surgery so you can give it a try. It may make so much difference to you. So difficult when in pain all day and night to think of anything but here and now. DO you have something similar to the nurse that i go to see? It kind of like free WW.
    I keep my fingers XXXD that you will be in less pain,
    wishing you all well,
    seamonkey
  • liesa
    liesa Member Posts: 821
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hiya Seamonkey
    such a cute name lol x
    i spent a few years going to see the practise nurse for my weight, never losing more then 8lbs
    my family and i are starting to try harder regarding our weight, i am 8 stone overwieght, we go to florida every year and the flight is always 'just so' regarding the seat size, now i have added 2 stone since the last visit last year that im gona be a bit uncomfortable so wanna get it off quickly! my clothes are all to small... the last 2 stone has gone on due to my immobility due to a car crash 2 years ago with a bus running into my car... hurt my back and had a very rough time so that on top of the knee and hip hasnt helped at all... but as my hubby and daughter are watching our weight now we can all try....
    good luck with your DLA, still havent heard anymore on mine, but i do expect it to be turned down again xx
    love and hugs
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  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,848
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Seamonkey

    well done for 'standing up to be counted'!! l am proud of you - it would be great if all of us who get turned down in this way were to take our letters to out MP and show him or her how theses 'medicals' are being conducted :shock:

    Good luck 100% behind you

    Love

    toni xx

    You too Leisa you can and you will do it. :smile:
  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Leisa,
    I hope you manage to lose some of the weight so you can be comfortable going to florida!! Lucky you.
    My sister who is really slim prob a size 6-8 has a problem gaining weight, as much as i struggle to keep my weight down she never seems to put any on.
    With your families support im sure you can do it. It is hard but when i start t to lose some i feel so much healthier and more confident.
    At the min im spending a fortune on fruit. Its quick and easy to add to cereal if ive not got time to make a healthy lunch.
    Fingers Xd for you and please let me know how you get on.
    seamonkey
  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Toni,
    It is purely shocking at the way people who ask for help from DLA are treated. To read its all in my head and i need counselling!!! Why then am i waiting to see a surgeon??
    I dont care if i dont get a penny i want an appology from that GP.
    I will also be showing my mp her report once ive had what ever surgery i need. See what he has to say about the so called system.
    Now breathe! lol :lol:
    Rant over,
    all the best
    seamonkey
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,848
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Good girls Seamonkey l am very very proud of you :grin:

    the audacity of the man!!!

    Hugs

    toni xx
  • princess935
    princess935 Member Posts: 90
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi seamonkey,

    I too was turned down for Dla in may, they didn't even wait for the consultant report before making a decision, so have asked for reconsideration, and have sent in consultant report etc, so just waiting to be knocked back again.

    I think this is the way everyone is going end up going, and its going cost them more having to go to tribunals.

    I really feel for you, the Dla doc isn't independant, they get a bonus for everyone they fail, they are employed by the Dla. To have a proper assessment done it should be done by someone not employed by them.

    And as for the tribunal, I will probably be heading down that route, and that thought is already stressing me out, so you must be so upset and fed up about it all.

    Stay strong and we can beat them if we try hard enough xx
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, its a shame you can't take legal action about the conclusions that this so called doc made about you. I bet if it were possible, to sue, then the reports would read very differently! :smile: Love Sue xxx
  • salamander
    salamander Member Posts: 1,906
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    It is shocking that doctors judge people on their weight. One might well be overweight but do they ever ask whether you are able to exercise and why couldn't they give you the DLA and reassess you (if they thought weight was the issue) after you had lost it? My mother had weight issues but she also had severe osteoarthritis. She couldn't exercise at all, couldn't walk and one of the few pleasures in her life was cooking, until she couldn't do that any more. I don't think losing weight would have made a substantial difference to her though, god knows, she tried. Anyway, whoever said DLA was dependant on one being slim? People are overweight for many different reasons and having a chronic illness might well be one of them.

    Apologies for the rant but it makes me so mad!
  • traluvie
    traluvie Member Posts: 2,579
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Seamonkey..

    I am a bit late to your post.. sorry..
    I read your post and i was fuming... Some people have no idea at all .. and really shouldn't be doing there job..
    I really hope you get this sorted.. would love to meet this doc .. he might accidently trip over my crutch lol...
    Sending you big hugs..(((((X)))) Don't give up luvie...chin up..xxx
    th_tn_TisFORTIGGER.jpgxxTracyxx
  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you all so much for your replies,
    Ive calmed down somewhat now but am still upset at the thought people think it in my head.
    Ive see the surgeon and unfortunately they wont attempt to fuse my spine as they say it not very successful and there isnt really anything they can see on scans to say why im in so much pain. they did however give me some great advice,
    Lose weight and
    Get off tablets.
    No advice on how to do that when any activity is painful and how to cope with 4 kids when i dont have my tabs to help with the pain.
    Ive lost almost all will and am now burying head int he sand and refusing to admit i have a problem!
    I will just have to do what ive always done and grin and bear it again untill it all becomes too much and im almost bed ridden again for 3 mths.
    I hoe everyone here is doing well and i wish you all best wishes.
    seamonkey
  • traluvie
    traluvie Member Posts: 2,579
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi seamonkey..

    So sad you have to do all this on your own.. like fighting a never ending battle.. surely there must be someone who can help you, seems so cruel doesn't it.. I read a post on here the other day where another lady is virtually unable to walk and she was refused.. i am in the process of filling my form out again as i have got worse from when i first replied.. I too would benefit from the money, i would pay someone to help out at home so OH can go back to work..
    The CAB still sorting things out for you?? hope they can..You are on of the honest ones that genuinely need it and are having to fight..hope some good comes from it..
    th_tn_TisFORTIGGER.jpgxxTracyxx
  • liesa
    liesa Member Posts: 821
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hiya SM,
    I'm so sorry your being treated so unfairly, you need to get referred to a pain clinic, its diabolic being told more or less to grin and bare it, im still waiting to hear from my appeal, i know it will say no but have got my MP on the case as well as help from the disabled living foundation you should be on higher rate with care component.... these buggers really should live in the world we live in just for a while... do they think we want to be like this???? do they think we dont want a decent quality of life??

    its hopeless... we hate feeling so low and depressed...
    wish i could help you SM, if only for a cup of tea and girly chat... xxxx
    love and hugs
    8997C823B17A6252CBCA252F4BF2932D.png
  • tillytop
    tillytop Member Posts: 3,460
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Oh I am so sorry seamonkey. The system is so wrong and there is no excuse for treating people the way you have been treated although from what I read on here regularly it is very common.

    I can't think of anything practical to say so just leaving you a (()).

    Thinking of you.

    Tilly xxx
  • seamonkey
    seamonkey Member Posts: 323
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you all again for your posts. Reading them and knowing that there is some people who know what it is like and can see things from my point is really good.
    I dont hold out much hope for the appeal that the CAB are taking care of. IF it wasnt for them i wouldnt have had the energy to do it.
    Im having my second aptment at pain clinic tomorrow. He had mentioned that he didnt think surgeons would be able to do anything and that once i had seen them he could give injections into my spine.
    Im hoping this will work and that i can get back to at least being able to work some hours. And so that i can function normally as a parent.
    Any one had this type of thing at a pain clinic id be interested to read what they have to say,
    As always i wish you all well and am so glad that you are all on here,
    best wishes
    seamonkey
  • Ilovemystaffie
    Ilovemystaffie Member Posts: 29
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I was refused DLA twice before I was given a lifetime award of High Mob and medium care.
    My CAB advisor said that if doing things(walking,getting in and out of the car etc etc) causes you pain,then it`s truthful to say that you cannot do them,even if you do do them!

    I`d change my GP (it worked for me!).
  • wendylou
    wendylou Member Posts: 88
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    seamonkey wrote:
    Hi all,
    Once again i turn to the forum when ive had a knock back. To get advice and support by folks that know what it is like.
    I recieved a copy of DLA Dr assessment as with the help of CAB am appealing. What an utterly heart wrenching report.
    She has omitted lots of info and says there is no medical reason why i should have any pains or loss of mobility. My movements were inconsistent with any known medical condition.
    Thats great then she will have no reason not to swap bodies with me even for a day!
    Yes as she says i managed to get tablets from my top kitchen cupboard, what she doesnt say is that they were on lower shelf and kitchen was fitted by my OH who lowered them from their standard height so i didnt have to stretch to reach. Which means i didnt have to rotate my shouldter but just lift my forarm up. Everything she said I have a reason for. Yes i can get into car myself. But when i dont have the kids to help it takes longer causes me more pain and makes me more tired.
    Yesterday i was in tears and so upset at the though someone would say i was making it up. aparently all i need is counciling and help to lose weight. Great i cant wait to be cured of my imaginary illness.
    Im cross now and very very angry. Its a shame the DR doesnt have to come to the tribunal.
    It makes me sick that others have been treated like this, if it wasnt for the fact that it would make the kids lives easier if i had extra money to pay for help arnd house i would just leave it. But they deserve to have a mum who isnt so tired every evening after doing basic house work etc that she has no patience and no energy to play/ help with home work etc.
    That Dr would be a joke if she she wasnt playing with peoples lives that are already hard enough!
    I am sorry to have ranted. I do feel alot better for it though, Im sure on here somewhere will be someone that has been treated like this.
    I wish you all well and hope its a good day for you all,
    Best wishes
    seamonkey
    Hi seamonkey sorry to hear what you are going through I have just been put through the mill at a Tribunal for my D LA claim just to get it refused once again i have a Benifit officer helping me, i had a nice letter from Dr supporting me and my claim but it was a waste of paper that it was wrote on, My Dr had put down as i was disabled and needed help in my personel care he also told them i have to use wheelchair and crutches but as i said it went on deaf ears, I went through sheer hell its like they don't believe you, they asked me some stupid questions like how do i do my hair and how do i get my clothes i don't know what thats got to do with my Hip and knee Arthritis also a spine problem, Going there stressed me out something shocking as i said to my Benefit officer i could not go through that again, he is putting in a fresh claim most probably to get refused again, I don't know what we people who are genuine have got to do to get beleived, I do hope you have some luck with what your going through sorry to go on what do they want us to do go around with placard on saying we are in pain, good luck. Wendylou