Epilepsy care and how it affects people

notnap

I have had epilepsy for over thirty years diagnosed in 1993 and when it started to affect my life

Looking back I think that I was affected with it from my childhood as I was always very clumsy but was never diagnosed with it

My parents are no longer with me as they passed away in the early and mid 2000nds

So I am unable to speak with them

In 2017 I collapsed with kidney failure and after talking with a hospital social worker the advised me to climax pip witch I did and they said that I should have been on DLA from when my epilepsy started

I was successful and have been receiving pip from 2017

I am unable to work as no employer will give me a chance as they don’t understand my conditions

How can I change this

Rachel_Scope

Hi @notnap. Just so I understand, are you wanting to find work?

notnap

no I was just putting out there about my struggles after being made redundant in 2004 from a company that understood my limits as they were moving there warehouse operations to a different part of the country

Every interview I was invited to attend I was turned down due to my health at the time being epilepsy and now being just over three years post kidney transplant I see it as a waste of time plus being 64 nearly retired

Rachel_Scope

Ah ok. I'm sorry you went through that, it's so unfair. Do you have any hobbies or interests?

notnap

I don’t have any hobbies or interests at the moment as I had to give up my St John ambulance service after twenty plus years and I have jus put in to the dogs trust to apply to foster a dog as it means that I don’t have to pay anything

Rachel_Scope

That's amazing that you dedicated 20 plus years! I bet it was so rewarding. Fostering a dog will be lovely. Pets are so good at making us feel better and loved 😊 Have you had dogs before?

notnap

when my step son emigrated to Canada for his work whe I was married to his mother we took his dog to live with us and he was a very nice good dog that you wouldn’t know he was there unless he wanted to be fed or let out to toilet sadly when we separated we couldn’t keep him so he was given to another friend of the step son and he finally found to have cancer in one leg and he was 14 so it was kinder to put him to sleep

Rachel_Scope

I'm sorry he had to be put to sleep. It's such a difficult decision to make but if that's what was best for him then that's the right decision. It's so hard to let them go though. Do you feel you'll be happy to foster dogs? I'm not sure I'd be able to give them back, I'd end up with loads!

notnap

after he left he gave me the idea to start my own dog walking business and I had quite the few different breeds with there own individual style but they all quickly grew to understand me and I them

My fiancée who I am with in Scotland has a neighbor who has two dogs that I am training