CFS/ME - Appeal Tribunal on Thursday - feel scared

Firstly, thank you all for your kind words of support.....they mean even more now that I have just received a letter to say that, due to industrial action, my Tribunal has been postponed. They will write to me with a new date. I've been waiting for the Tribunal for 6 months, and fighting this appeal since the end of August last year - what's another few weeks/months?!? I am so upset and angry at this.

Rest of post deleted, see [url=http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/faq/forum-faq#deleted]FAQ[/url

Crow wrote:

I have heard that as ME/CFS is a fluctuating condition I will not be entitled to anything..

Hi, Crow

It's NOT TRUE that you are not entitled to anything because you have a fluctuating condition. The tribunal will be interested in how your condition affects you overall. So it's fine to explain that the are day-to-day variations but make sure they understand what a 'bad' day is like and how often you have them.

Good luck.
Andy.

Hi, I also have had ME for the last 3 years. My appeal was heard last week and I went from 0 points to 18 points! I was very worried about the appeal, but found both the doctor and the legal person to be sympathetic and understanding about my condition. My wife came with me as moral support, as she had read through a lot of information on the website. I was pleasantly surprised that the panel asked her to provide her point of view, which was very helpful to me. We were made to feel at ease all through the procedure. It's a shame that the Atos medicals can't be conducted like this! It would save so much anguish and expense.

Tracy A wrote:

Crow I saw on TV last night that there is a public sector strike on Thursday and this included courts and am wondering if your appeal will still be heard.
Can any of the mods let us know if Tribunerals will also be affected on Thurs?

I hope the strike does not affect your appeal Crow.
My partner has his joint appeal this afternoon.

Tribunal Members are part of the judiciary, so they cannot go on strike.

However, the Tribunal has to have a clerk in attendance to deal with administrative matters. My advice would be to ring the office dealing with your appeal and ask if it's going ahead.

Good luck.

Jim

Basher wrote:

My wife came with me as moral support... I was pleasantly surprised that the panel asked her to provide her point of view, which was very helpful to me.

Thanks for that info, Basher.

I, too, have ME. I've been puzzling how on earth to get things across to the tribunal given I'm not on any medication and not seeing a specialist, just trying to cope (grudgingly!) with living within the limits the ME imposes. My wife is the only person who actually has first-hand knowledge of how the illness affects me. She's willing to come with me, obviously, but we'd assumed she might be seen as "biased" and not expected/allowed to give evidence. So what you say is very encouraging.

Thanks again.
Andy.

Dear Moderator, Can I genuinely thank you for deleting the latter part of this posting. I was angry and gave information that was inappropriate to post. I apologise. I guess we all need looking after when we are upset. Thanks. Crow.