Hi everyone,
There’s been tears this morning and I’m feeling sorry for myself.
I know that there have to be tight criteria for these things but up until now I haven’t wanted to ‘give into’ MS and then all in the same week I applied for the badge, bought a walking stick (rather than using the long handled umbrella I had been using lol) and went to see the GP about pain relief (started on Gabapentin). So when I got a letter back from them saying that they didn’t think my walking difficulties were severe enough it’s really upset me, it’s like they don’t believe I’m struggling. I know that that’s being a bit overdramatic but it’s how I feel today.
I’ve probably been naive when I’ve filled in the application form and haven’t really used my very worst day, but now what can I do? I can’t ask for advice anywhere else because everywhere is shut. Do you think I can appeal?
The letter said that of course if I received higher rate DLA then I would automatically get a badge but I hadn’t even wanted to apply for that, I work, my husband works so I feel I would be cheating the system by asking for benefits, all I wanted was for outings and errands to be made a little bit easier. Also the chances of me getting high rate are low I think.
The other thing that’s worrying me is that we’re going to Florida on holiday this year (that’s a strange combination in a sentence isn’t it! I’m very happy and lucky to be going!). Anyway we’ve been before and I know the distances that have to be walked, even just to get from the car parks to the entrance. We’re thinking of hiring a scooter when we’re there to save taking one with us and it’s cheaper than hiring them at the parks, but if I don’t have a blue badge then we have to park miles from the entrance and at Disney they have trams that take you from the car parks to the entrance which means either my children have to walk miles before they even get to the park or I have to travel on the scooter myself and try to meet them somewhere.
Has anyone else had any experience of this? Do you think they would issue me a temporary blue badge if I can’t get a permanent one? Or is there any other way of getting a badge in Florida…maybe a letter from my consultant or GP?
Any help or advice appreciated. Thanks!
Lynn
x