Hi all, my name is Heather and I was diagnosed with Essential thrombocythemia (ET) 12 years ago, I am now 61 and on aspirin and Interferon injections. I am really struggling with the fatigue. I am a self employed cleaner and only work a few hours each day but my own house is a tip! My husband retires this year and I don’t know how we will manage if I don’t increase my hours. We don’t own our house so have to continue to pay rent. We can’t get pension credit because the assumption is that I will work full time for the next six years. I have never claimed any kind of benefit and to be honest I struggle with the concept. Has anyone else found themselves in this position and have any advice for me please?
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Hello @Heathermargot
Welcome to our forum and thank your for your post.
We are sorry to hear about your diagnosis of Essential thrombocythemia (ET) and that you are having issues with fatigue and work.
We can imagine this is a difficult time for you and hard to balance work with rest. Please do look after yourself.
Our page Blood cancer: money and work | Blood Cancer UK may be helpful for you to read through, it has a number of different sections including working with blood cancer and help with costs. It also contains information on other help you might be able to access, such as one-off grants and help paying bills.
The citizen’s advice bureau may be able to advise further on this as well as our colleagues at Macmillan who have a page for those who are self employed Self-employment and cancer | Understanding your choices | Macmillan Cancer Support.
The Government’s website also has a benefits calculator which may be useful to see what help you are entitled to Benefits calculators - GOV.UK which also includes a link to the Turn2Us benefits calculator page.
We would advise letting your haematology team/ nurse specialist know how you are feeling as it is useful to keep them updated with how you are doing so that they can provide you with the best support they can. They may also be able to direct you to local financial services and could provide cover letters if required.
Just in case it is useful we also have a page on Fatigue | Blood Cancer UK.
We hope this is helpful and should you need further support, please give us a call on 0808 2080 888
We hope others can also share any useful information they may have if they have been in a similar situation.
Take care & warm wishes,
Emma (support services nurse)
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Hi @Heathermargot Emma has given you lots of useful practical information but if you ever need to offload and talk to people we’re always available on the forum for support. It’s a tricky time for money right now without the health issues. I’ll be out of work at Christmas myself. Let us know how you get on.
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