At last some help

 Well, my meeting with the Age UK advisor was very productive.....Angela was a really lovely, kind and extremely helpful lady who bent over backwards to try and help.  She said my social housing application was fine, and then we moved onto financial matters.  In her opinion, husband will almost certainly be eligible for Attendance Allowance, which could then open the door for further benefits.  She gave me lots of tips for filling in the AA forms, such as ring the helpline and ask for a form to be sent out rather than filling it out online.....the reason being, if you fill out a paper form and send it off straight away, it is date stamped upon receipt and any successful claim will be backdated to that date.  Whereas if you do it online, the form will hang about for weeks and weeks before it gets passed to the right department and will only be dated from the date it actually reaches that department, not from when you submitted it!  And delays are currently around 4-8 weeks....meaning if you're successful, you will lose out on several weeks of payments.  She also said to give Age UK a ring when I receive the form, and she or one of her colleagues will come out to our home and help me fill it in.  She said it's important to fill out all sections as if it were husband's worst day, but she said not to worry, she or whoever comes will help with that.  She had lots of other useful tips and information, she couldn't have been more helpful.  I feel much more positive now I'm finally getting some help and support.  

The session was held in a local village hall where they also have a drop in coffee and cake morning for everyone who has memory problems, for whatever health reason, and their carers, with plenty of helpers to discuss things with, it was being held whilst I was seeing the advisor.  Whilst I could go to it if I wanted (husband most certainly wouldn't), and everyone working or volunteering there seemed incredibly nice (e.g. I was welcomed and offered a cuppa and slice of cake as soon as I walked in), it's not really my thing.  The room was full of mostly old people (aged 75+), around 2 dozen women with a couple of men, with a very few younger women, perhaps 3 or 4, who were clearly daughters, or possibly carers.  So really it was like a seniors social club.  As old as I am (63), I don't actually consider myself old yet!  One of the organisers was trying to give a talk and some important information about an upcoming event, but kept getting interrupted by the 2 old men, cracking 'jokes' and making stupid comments......why is it always men who do that?  And why do they feel the need to prove they're hilariously funny and smart?  (They're not).  So it's not something I'll be attending.

Today husband has his telephone pre-op assessment, postponed from last week because the nurse was off sick.  He's not been given a date for the angiogram yet, perhaps they'll tell him today on the phone.  I wish they'd hurry up about it, I need to make arrangements for someone to take him to the hospital and pick him up again when he's ready to come home.  I shall also need to make sure I've got enough shopping in, or do it online or get a neighbour to take me, and rearrange any appointments either of us have around that time, as husband won't be able to drive for a while.....how long for depends on what he has done.

I've had my diabetes review results online, all seems fine, not much change from last year, but I still have to go see the nurse next week to discuss it all.  I also have another problem which I need to discuss with her, it may or may not be diabetes related - my fingers and thumbs, from the first or second joint, keep going completely white, bloodless, freezing cold and painful, which makes it a bit difficult to do anything using my hands until it wears off.  I had a work colleague who had this, it was Raynauds Syndrome in her case and I think was related to her rheumatoid arthritis.  It's not a major problem (just another one to add to the ever-growing list!!), more of an annoyance really.