Any advice appreciated

anne2704

I wonder if anyone can advise me. I am 44 years old i was born with Vacterl association (a group of congenital abnormalities). I was born with a narrow Aorta (heart), Septum in my uterus, a thumb which cannot bend and a partially fused C6/C7 Vertebra. I had surgery to fix my Aorta, and a hysterectomy. My problem now is that because of the fusion of C6/C7 fusion i have degenerative disc disease of C4-C6 with a loss of curve and distinct kyphosis in the middle of my neck (so my neck is now curved the wrong way). I am experiencing some neurological signs in both my arms and my neck muscles are constantly tense and sore. I am a radiographer, which involves heavy lifting. I am in the process of having a health and safety risk evaluation, but my boss is trying to get me to work normally which involves lifting up heavy stuff.  Someone mentioned to me that i should be registered as a disability. But i am not sure how to begin the process. I don't want to registered for benefits of any kind as i feel i can still work. But i am aware that i may have future problems. Any advice would be really appreciated

Many thanks 

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community. there is no such thing anymore of being registered disabled. The definition of disability is covered in the Equality Act but basically you have to have a condition that affects your day to day ability and that is likely to last 12 months or more.

In relation to your employment I suggest you ask to be referred to Occupational Health for a work place assessment, they can then suggest suitable adjustments required to meet your needs. All employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to cater for disabled employees.

You can find a lot on here about reasonable adjustmentsd

steve51

Hi @anne2704

Good Afternoon & Welcome it’s great to meet you today.

I am one of the Community Champion’s here at Scope.

Sorry to hear about your current problems.

Yes I have similar problems & I have neurological problems effecting my right side top to bottom.

I had also been unable to to continue my job in the NHS.

We have got some info/advice on here as well.

Please please let me know if there’s anything that I can help you with????

@steve51

chiarieds

Hi @anne2704 - & welcome to the community from me too. Here's a link to Scope's info on 'Reasonable adjustments' as mentioned above: https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/work-careers/reasonable-adjustments/

I hope you are able to carry on with your valuable work if some adjustments can be made for you.

Chloe_Alumni

Welcome to the community @anne2704, just wanted to check in to see how you are doing.