Tag: liptember

Happy Liptember!

I have no idea how many year I’ve done Liptember. More than 10 now I think, going by facebook memories! It’s a fun month, wearing the lipsticks that I’ve hoarded, with a bit of culling each year, adding a few like the red I’m wearing today (above) that we got for raising $60 🙂 Always a fan of a nice red 🙂

If you wanna sponsor me: http://liptember.com.au/phonakins

Life is still a bit of chaos between having extra bodies in the house and mouths to feed, plus we all got sick and I’m currently in the getting dizzy party of whichever virus this is (kids tested neg to Covid a couple of weeks back but haven’t tested since and I’m all outta RATs). So yeah. It is what it is, lay low, hydrate and look after each other.

One thing I am struggling with a little mentally is the removal of masking in hospitals unless someone is symptomatic. It came in on Wednesday in NSW, so yesterday would have been my first mask less group if I wasn’t already sick. I went in a got my meds and left because I’d run out of spares the week bub was born. But the week before I had a slight meltdown at the end of group when half the group were wearing their masks under their chins, and the new registrar took hers off when group started after having it on in the clinic before, and then coughed without it on and didn’t take my hint of glaring at her. Another patient took that hint though. Thanks to her.

Guidance on wearing face masks Face masks stop viruses from spreading through the air so you are less likely to catch or spread them. When you wear a face mask, you protect yourself and others from respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and flu. Last updated: 30 August 2023 Listen From 30 August 2023 you may notice changes to mask wearing in your local hospital. Staff may not wear masks in all clinical and patient facing areas. This is because cases of respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 and flu have gone down and winter is ending. You are still required to wear a mask if you go to hospital as a visitor or patient and have cold or flu symptoms. Staff are also required to wear masks if they are looking after someone with cold or flu symptoms. Mask wearing at your local hospital may change in the future if cases increase. Please check with the facility. Read advice on visiting hospitalslaunch.

I think I’ll be calmer with people not wearing masks at all rather than chin diapers, but we’ll see. My case manager blamed it on lack of sleep and wanting to protect the baby. Maternal things and all that.

But I have ordered some better masks for myself so I can do the personal responsibility thing or whatever. I have a psychiatrist review with them in a fortnight too which is good because it’s been basically forever and I’ve been self-managing my meds and telling the GPs what scripts to write.

So yeah, we’re ticking along, Tick tick tick.

And Liptember is OVER!

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So, Liptember is over for another year, and I’m happy that I met my fundraising target, and that I wore lipstick every day, and I tried a few new things, but I’m also tired. Why tired? Well because people around me are. Because while it’s fun to do fundraisers, it’s hard seeing people around you not being supported with their mental health. People accessing all they can – the Medicare rebated psych sessions, medications, GP visits – but that not being enough to make any headway. My sister will feel I’m calling her out with this, and while I am, it’s also half my Twitter feed and a bunch of my Facebook family and friends. They do what they need to to tread water, they maintain, they get things done, they keep on being alive, they keep doing the appointments they have to, to work days, the welfare obligations. But they don’t really get ahead.

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I’m certainly not ahead either, myself, I just managed to get myself to a point where I could convince the government that they were better off giving me DSP that trying to get me into a job that I might just throw away at the first sign of trouble. I had the privilege of being able to front up the cash for private psych and OT, to be able to get into the therapy program that made a difference but wouldn’t “fix” me, to get the reports from the private OT that got me over the line for DSP. So that now I can jump in and out of the real world as I see see fit with a safety net of not losing my DSP backup because I tried and failed at something.

I’m not yet at the point of wanted to do paid external work, but I’m participating more outside myself – I’m more involved with my local Greens’ group and the events and meetings they have, I’m more active online, I’m experimenting with more social media avenues and with Twitch streaming. I’m dabbling around to try and find what I like, and hopefully being useful in the meantime. I’m doing my e-girl and activist things and I really like that. Those things excite me, being online, trying to make a difference, either together or separate, but also just figuring out me.

While also being able to be there for my partner and my sister and their kids. Helping my stepkid get into the right therapy, taking my nephew and niece to appointments, babysitting the little ones, being a sounding board for my sister, making my partner lunch and dinner and keeping  a clean and ordered house so we can relax together in the evenings. Playing with my dog, getting the kids used to a dog. Helping the children learn to be themselves and grow and explore their lives.

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I’m doing what I can and mostly what I want to do and while I’m tired, I like it. I like me.

You can still donate til the 15th for my Liptember, and I’ll wear the lippy of your choice one day 🙂 I still don’t have yellow and threw out a few over the month, but there’s still way too many to choose from.