2 replies to this topic

[Susi]

Since belonging to this community I have often wondered whether it is a good thing recieving all help from the state (welfare state) or whether winging it independanty is better.
When I was injured, my partner had just started his consultancy again after being unemployed for some 2 years and we did not have a medical aid (still fighting this out in the courts of law). Although his deposit helped me to get into the best rehab hospital post-injury at the time, we were totally dependant on our own wits to cope once I left. This disability cost us everything and then some.
When I came back to Namibia from Rehab in South Africa, we came back to nothing. No income (my previous employers having dismissed me with no compensation or reason) and my partner with no job. I had a list of medicines that I needed but which I could not afford, no home to go to and no usual wheelchair friendly aids at all. All I had to start with was a wheelchair.
I had to fight my employer for a disability pension (only granted after a protracted legal battle), depend on our state health system for the most needed drugs for a nominal monthly fee and find a flat to stay in with what we could afford at the time.
I went from sleeping on newspapers and a normal mattress, sleepless nights on both our parts, a one-bedroomed flat with no disability access or aids, to coping as best we can to date. All my hardware I needed had to be paid for out of our pockets, I have dropped anti-depressants and sleeping tablets, pain killers and all other drugs deemed not necessary (blood pressure, etc) to getting what the state facility gives out for the disabled. Anti-spasm tablets, generic form of suppositories, antibiotic for bladder infections, and Warforin.
I battled for years to get a normal bowel routine going, this being achieved in the last year.
My point here is we had to make do with "alternate" medicines for blood pressure, etc. Blood pressure problems, I make do with peppermints and liquorice lozenges or peppermint teas. For combatting pressure sores, we were advised to use the skin of a paw-paw (papaya) bandaged directly onto the sore itself and change every other day with a fresh skin. (Thankfully I have not had one pressure sore, except a ?suspect one on heel, which turned out to be a blood blister after all, but the skin did help in that it disappeared after 1 week!)
I can't say much to UTI's except to say that drinking water (lots of it) sorts this out and general hygiene around the legbag issue and overnight bags.
We had to find ways to cope without any sort of alternate help or large medical expenses as we just did not have the finances to do it.
Thankfully now we are in a much better situation, job wise on hubby's part, and we have moved to a much better flat (also one bedroomed and no disability access either), exercises can begin again, and generally we can afford more than before. However, we still fork out of our own pocket all hardware needed to enable a "normal" life post accident. The only difference to then and now, we have learnt to cope with very little, but have managed and fared better than what I am reading on these different forums. We will afford a hospital plan, as one cannot afford the exorbitant monthly fees of the various medical aid companies as they are terribly discriminatory towards disabled clients and we just pay through our noses for ?what priviledge.
In hindsight, I am glad we had to struggle like we did. Yes, it was debilitating to say the least but the joy in overcoming difficult situations far outweighed the struggle, and hopefully now I can impart some of what we learned and are learning still to those of you out there who have to start from scratch again like we did.
Not least to snub our noses at those service industries who see us disabled as cash cows because we have no choice but to pay up, for them especially we have said "not with us".
Whilst I appreciate some of us cannot afford to experiment like we did the benefits far outweigh the need to be totally dependant on those that exploit us indiscriminantly at will!!
A good GP and a friendly pharmacist helped save us many times over.
What are your experiences, lets hear.
To you Nomis, thanks for all your input on these sites and to you Gazprom your lifeline was much appreciated.
To Apparelyzed for this amazing site, a HUGE thank you for my sanity and a well run site since I joined. Although I have not contributed much since joining, I ope to rectify this as I have now found my voice and will use it from here on in!!
A Blessed New Year to all of you.

[Tim13]

Interesting question, I make too much to get any kind of assistance so everything comes out of pocket or insurance and I like it that way. That being said, i do feel a bit envious when i see a fellow cripple pull up in a brand new 45 thousand dollar adapted van that the state has paid for.

[nomis]

You've had a very interesting life Susi and faced difficulties beyond what many of us are likely to encounter. I think it's remarkable that you've survived it so well.

To survive the hardships you describe you've needed to be motivated, creative and flexible. I think hardship for anyone can be a valuable learning experience for anyone but in different parts of the world we confront different difficulties and different levels of difficulty.

I see myself as having lived most of my life free from state assistance. But I suspect you would not see my life that way because the state has supplied my wheelchair (apart from my first chair) and has provided free medical care and supplies. It is a system that works well and we're able to do it because of our political philosophies and wealth.

But any involvement with the state will have compromise, like limited choice and invasion of privacy. In the end the game is about surviving, getting what you can out of life and hopefully leaving it with a sense of satisfaction. So it's up to each of us individually to make our own choices to best meet the environment we find ourselves in.