Hi Chewbacca
It seems to be the 'norm' now to get a review letter about a year before the award is due to end.
Whether you will need to attend another face 2 face depends on the circumstances of your first award I suppose, but if you do have to attend you have the opportunity to present any more recent evidence to support your claim that your illness is progressing and you are finding things much more difficult.
As to whether there is any other course of action open to you, I will leave this to other members who might have more experience of the renewal/review system and be more supportive because of this experience.
Have you contacted Turn2Us, by the way? They might be able to suggest means of obtaining other income?