ESA claim with regard to brain injury.

Hi. Quick background.

I had a brainstem stroke 5 years ago following a minor accident tearing an artery in my neck. I was awarded HRC and HRM for two years following my discharge from rehab having spent three months in hospital.

Rightly or wrongly I didn't make a follow up claim as PIP had just been introduced and my child with complex congenital heart disease was really quite poorly living with quite low oxygen levels. We were managing financially and I couldn't face all the form filling.

My functional recovery continued slowly but surely and I began to think that returning to work once my son was repaired and at school would be OK.

Five years on and it's just not. My balance varies between an obvious wobble and looking absolutely plastered when trying to walk. I do have my license but there are a lot of circumstances that I will not drive in. My vision is not stable, fatigue often debilitating, I have barely any sensation down half my body which causes tripping, and burn and injury incidents. I cannot look up without suffering vertigo and if I shut my eyes I will fall flat on my behind.

Between some volunteer work with the children's heart charities on a very informal basis and looking after my young one the thought of trying to keep up with a committed work schedule is enough to send me straight back into major panic attacks. I have just completed a 12 week CBT course to treat PTSD. I really do not want to end up back where I was last year.

The question is:

How do I approach this medical questionnaire when my issues do not fit into there tick boxes at all? I am guessing this is going to end up being a very wordy subjective body of evidence. How do assessors deal with information that does fit neatly into their score cards?

Thanks DL

H Lizzy

I guess first and foremost you have to look at the PIP form and decide which descriptors best fit your disabilities. Not an easy one, but start at the beginning and work through them all, maybe deciding initially to concentrate on the physical issues; mobility is obviously compromised; probably there are issues with dressing, undressing, washing, bathing - all sorts of problems that you will have to explain in detail. You will need to spend a lot of time thinking about how to describe your physical problems and how they affect your day to day living. Remember, the issue here is how your illness affects you, not what your illness actually IS. No two people are the same, no two people will react in the same way to the same disease/s.

You will have the usual back-up, supportive evidence from your various medical professionals - gather together as much evidence as you can to support what you are claiming are the effects of your illness. Concentrate on how your physical problems affect your mental health; explain the vertigo, explain your visual issues - just work steadily through the descriptors, and where you are sure they relate to you, gather together all the information/support you can. Keep the diary; ask friends/support workers to provide you with their own diaries of the help you have needed, and continue to need.

As to how assessors deal with any evidence - never mind evidence that doesn't fit neatly into any particular bracket - well, who knows. If you don't apply you most certainly won't get, and the very worst that can happen is that you will be turned down. Which will leave you exactly where you are now. And then you come back to us, we will help you apply for MR, and maybe eventually appeal.

It is not easy, and no one can say whether you will be successful or not, but follow the guidelines; fill in the form as best you can, send as much supportive evidence as you have available, and then wait and see.

Good luck to you. x

Hi Lizzy and welcome to the forum. On the assumption that you are also new to the site, this link should help you find your way around.

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Please read this topic also.

According to the title of your topic, it is ESA that you are claiming for, is that correct? In which case, this will be the guide you need.

ESA claims and appeals

You will only be awarded ESA if you score at least 15 points, across all descriptors, or meet the 'exceptional circumstances' criteria.

Qualifying for the WRAG

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

If you have further questions or comments about your ESA claim, please reply to this message and we will do our best to help. You will find it easily in future if you bookmark/favourite it on your web browser now.

So this is 'my' threD now where I should post st all times?

DizzyLizzy wrote: So this is 'my' threD now where I should post st all times?

Hi DL,

Yes, that's right !!

Keep all your ESA related queries to this topic/thread and if you have any queries regarding PIP or DLA start a fresh topic/thread about that.

bro58

I have seen the GP this morning and explained what is stopping me working. I presented her with my reasons, paperwork relating to me stroke and physio (which is dated l2010-2013) and her response to me was ..

"It is entirely appropriate you are signed off for work " and agreed to write me a 3 month fit note to " give me breathing space to get the applications sorted."

I made great strides in recovery in the first three years from total dependence in HDU (sit, stand, see, swallow, speak properly) to living independently. My situation plateaued and I am now pretty much as I was and as well as I am likely to get. My GO knows this.

Having read through a number of people's threads over the last few days my question is..

How is possible/legal that someone who is basically an administrator override our GPs medical opinions on our capability to work? I have whole the size of a maltesrer in my brainstem, I am inordinately lucky to be alive and functioning anywhere near as well as I can on good days or bad, ever mind able to hold down a job.

I have some very obvious but far more less obvious neuro deficits to live with and I am sad to say I have already resigned myself to having to get up in front of a tribunal. I feel sick.

Sorry, just sounding off I guess.