How Do You Measure When Someone Is Fit For Work?

Well apparently, ATOS believe that you are fit for work if you can 'raise your arms above your head as if to put a hat on'; if you can 'pick a coin up off the floor'; if you can raise your arms as if to take something out of a top pocket'; and if you can 'walk up two steps unaided'.

Yes, that is how they measure your fitness to work. It doesn't matter that your feet burn if you are on them for more than an hour. It doesn't count if you can't get your jumper off because you've got one frozen shoulder and and the other arm is painful through lymphoedema under your arm and round the site of your operation. It doesn't matter that you are working two hours a week in order to build your strength up gradually, but are exhausted the day after working that two hours. It doesn't matter that your sleep is disturbed every night because of the pain in your shoulders and hips. It doesn't seem to matter that you may be struggling emotionally after having had to come to terms with having cancer. And it doesn't even seem to matter that you have had cancer. Their attitude seems to be that you've finished treatment, so therefore you are fit for work. You can lift your arms up, pick up a pound coin, walk up two steps unaided, so you must be fit for work. And this is how they measure your fitness.

I have been called for a medical assessment. The idea fills me with fear, anxiety and makes me feel frustrated. It is stressful because I know it is unfair and unjust. I can't wait to get my life back to normal after having had cancer. I can't wait to be fit and well again - just like I was before I had cancer. My head is ready to get going, but there is no way my body can keep up. And so today, I find myself crying at the thought of having to justify why I know I am not ready to work full time yet.