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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why cancer is classed as a disability?

101 replies

Whatwhy · 31/05/2015 10:28

My eldest and I were filling in forms for disability for Uni. We then found a paragraph that said if you had cancer for more than a year you could claim disability allowance even if now in remission/clear.

My eldest had cancer for over a year and won't be given the all clear for 10 years but is medically fit. I know people who have had skin cancer and had the treatment and are now clear, and the same with breast cancer.

I don't understand how having had cancer is now a disability - I understand in the past that Cancer was a death sentence and no one survived but now people are being cured.

I also don't get why its a disability once you've had it for a year, in our case for 18 months and particularly the first 10months that's when they were disabled not the last 8 months.

AIBU to think that Cancer is not a disability? It is an illness. The same way something like meningitis is an illness. It can cause disability in some cases but is not a disability.

OP posts:
Original poster
Whatwhy · 31/05/2015 13:45

No unfortunately we did not - I am glad you did but we got a lot of other support but no financial advice.

This maybe why for us it is a surprise that cancer is classed as a disability. And then why after a year? I said up thread I've never looked at DLA/PIP so didn't know how it is/was classed with them.

OP posts:
Marynary · 31/05/2015 14:04

This maybe why for us it is a surprise that cancer is classed as a disability. And then why after a year?

You are talking about people in remission/clear, not those who currently have cancer. Those with cancer are classified as disabled under the equality act from the point of diagnosis (i.e. they don't have to wait for a year)

Marynary · 31/05/2015 14:04

This maybe why for us it is a surprise that cancer is classed as a disability. And then why after a year?

You are talking about people in remission/clear, not those who currently have cancer. Those with cancer are classified as disabled under the equality act from the point of diagnosis (i.e. they don't have to wait for a year)

Shonajay · 31/05/2015 15:50

Yeah, because having cervical cancer was a breeze, I had two cone biopsies,a radical hysterectomy which is much worse than an ordinary one, my lymph nodes were taken so my legs swell so much I can't walk sometimes, nerves were cut near my bladder to get it all out, then I had an ovary twist that was removed, then I nearly died from fecal impaction, now I haveIBS and can't work in an office in case it happens there's literally no holding it in, have shat myself twice in the supermarket, am still on morphine, and now have four collapsed discs in my spine due to the ligaments supporting the back being removed. Oh and if it comes back and I have to have radiotherapy,I will probably end up with a urine bag and a stoma as the radio will damage it so much due to no protection from the uterus.

I literally didn't believe I was reading your initial post. You have zero insight and zero empathy.

Shonajay · 31/05/2015 15:51

Oh, and because my tumour was so big, ive to be followed up for TEN years. I can't get reasonable holiday insurance, I never knew you could get any financial help.

GemmaTeller · 31/05/2015 16:20

Just having cancer though is not a disability

I think there's no such term, EVER, as 'just having cancer'.

hazeyjane and I'm answering as someone who has first hand experience of cancer, two operations, six rounds of chemo, fifteen rounds of radiotherapy, lasting after effects, but never mind - its just cancer.

morage · 31/05/2015 16:20

Cancer is an umbrella term for many illnesses. Some have very high death rates and high risks of long term disability for those who do go into remission. Others are much less severe and people continue to work throughout.
DLA, now PIP, is to help you pay for the costs of not being able to do things yourself like cook, wash yourself, travel. It applies to a range of chronic illnesses as well as disability. Because it is not the diagnosis that is important, it is how it affects you.

Marynary · 31/05/2015 16:22

Shonajay Have you applied for DLA? www.gov.uk/dla-disability-living-allowance-benefit/overview

morage · 31/05/2015 16:27

Adults now have to apply for PIP, not DLA.

hazeyjane · 31/05/2015 16:32

GemmaTeller

I don't agree with the op talking about, 'just cancer', and I think her op is flippant sounding, and I don't think much though was put in to how that would make people feel who have also been through cancer.

I am not sure why you are pulling me up on this, I just thought from your post that you had maybe not noticed the bit where she said that her son is disabled and has had cancer.

morage · 31/05/2015 16:35

Marynary - Everyone now under PIP, unless they are terminally ill with a short life expectancy, has to have had difficulties for 3 months before they can apply.

expatinscotland · 31/05/2015 17:11

Remission is now usually referred to as No Evidence of Disease or NED.

It's an usual experience to not have met other families in a paed/adolescent onco unit, even the day unit, and still not understand how incredibility debilitating, and fatal, many forms of cancer can be, particularly in children and young people.

My daughter didn't live long enough for us to meet many, although she was never terminal, and yet among those we did meet, quite a few children have died, particularly from brain tumour or sarcomas. Almost all were relapsed.

OldBloodCallsToOldBlood · 31/05/2015 18:03

I think the OP is horrendously bad at phrasing what she means. We did seem to clear it all up, further upthread, but then the comment of

'this maybe why for us it is a surprise that cancer is classed as a disability'

has sparked it all off again. I am assuming that the OP meant 'that is why for us it is a surprise that my DC's cancer is classed as a disability for DSA' or words to that effect.

I am getting annoyed at this now. OP, please think far more carefully about you write your posts as you're pissing a lot of people off.

Northernlurker · 31/05/2015 18:13

This thread is definitely an example of a situation where a thought should have stayed in somebody's head and not been spewed out on to the internet. Hmm

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 31/05/2015 18:23

Similar to what I said earlier but just got called the thread police lurker. Meh

CatthiefKeith · 31/05/2015 18:54

My dm's original treatment for breast cancer 25 years ago included high doses is chemotherapy, radiotherapy and tamoxifen, which bought on early menopause.

Subsequent treatment has included a mastectomy. She is clear now, but her spine is crumbling due to osteoporosis, caused by the earlier treatment.

Since she has recently been turned down for pip, I would question how many people eligible for it actually receive it. Dm can't do her own hair, or put on her prosthetic, or walk far.

Anyone that claims people fraudulently claim these benefits has clearly never been through the process. It isn't easy to get.

morage · 31/05/2015 19:08

PIP is much harder to get than DLA. It is an attempt to reduce the number of people getting disability benefits.

Original poster
Whatwhy · 31/05/2015 19:10

OldBloodCalls that was what I was meaning.

I won't post further as I am not intentionally wanting to upset people. I was just trying to clarify the statement on the form which has been given to me.

OP posts:
Fromparistoberlin73 · 31/05/2015 22:42

Are you for real ? What an insensitive post

I am sure others have posted why and I won't waste my breath

But you should check your facts before posting such a tactless post

crje · 31/05/2015 22:53

Very insensitive post
As someone who has recently lost my friend to cancer this is v upsetting.
The treatment for cancer is so debilitating.

Fromparistoberlin73 · 31/05/2015 22:53

Expat

Seen you post so many times and I never even knew about your dd . You always seem so nice and funny

I am so sorry for your loss - desperately Flowers

Fromparistoberlin73 · 31/05/2015 22:56

Op - I won't flame you as you have had a child go through this

But if you have even an iota of a soul get this thread fucking deleted as it's so crass and you are upsetting people that (a) have cancer or (b) have lost loved ones

nikki23861 · 11/06/2017 20:57

For someone who has witnessed a loved battling cancer, your comment has shocked me.
My son was diagnosed with Leukaemia as a baby, he endured almost 3 and a half years of treatment, and let me tell you it was not a walk in the park for him!
He suffered with extreme fatigue every day, sickness, diarrhea, constipation, skin rashes, hair loss, muscle and bone pain, depression due to steroids, the list goes on!
There were times when he could not even walk to the toilet at night time! so don't fucking tell me its not a disability, you rude fool.
Now thankfully he has stopped treatment, however there can be long term side effects.
Many of the chemo's he had, can have such an effect on the heart that he will need to have his heart checked until he is 25 years old!
shocking statement to make, just shocking, .........................................

PurpleDaisies · 11/06/2017 21:00

Sorry for what's happened to your son nikki, but given the thread is two years old I doubt the op will see your comment.

Is he doing ok now?