Managing the Achievable

Get the hepatitis C cure today

If you haven’t achieved some great new thing while in isolation, there is something wrong with you. At least that’s what some social media influencers would have us believe. Motivational posts—urging you to learn a new language, start a new business or become a walking encyclopaedia—label you as lacking discipline if you achieved none of those grand goals. Truth is, if you are anything like me, you’d have been struggling to bother to even get dressed each day. Isolation at home has not been “free time” in any normal sense. There is a deadly global pandemic and it is OK not to be OK with this. People are dealing with job losses, reduced incomes and fears about the illness for self or loved ones. Even if we are among the lucky ones to retain our jobs, we may find difficulty focusing, with additional demands at home such as a houseful of children to keep occupied. These are strange and uncertain times. It is also time for selfcompassion. Kindness to oneself is not practised enough, in my opinion. We are our own worst critic; cruel and unforgiving to ourselves. We often fail to understand that we need to put ourselves first, particularly during this time of uncertainty, so that we are there for others who need us. The oft-cited example to support the rationale of self-care is oxygen masks on airplanes. The flight attendant instructs you to “put your oxygen mask on first,” before helping others. Why is this an important rule for ensuring survival? Because if you run out of oxygen yourself, you can’t help anyone else with their oxygen mask. We are in a challenging situation right now. For most of us, all sense of normality has been turned upside-down and there seem to be very few things within our control— unless you are living with chronic hepatitis C. Really? Yes, really. Getting cured of hepatitis C is one of the easy things you can do to improve your

The sort of Tweet you can safely ignore

health and make your life less stressful. It is one thing you can control during this time. With hepatitis C your health is compromised, and you may be fearful that symptoms of COVID-19 may be worse for you. While this novel coronavirus is still proving a challenge for medical researchers, they have got that other virus— the hepatitis C virus—in hand. New treatments are available that cure hepatitis C quickly and with few side effects, and with more than a 95% success rate. Curing your hep C will reduce fatigue, brain fog and feelings of depression, and help you be the best version of yourself for others, or even just for you. For most people, this cure can be achieved with pills, taken over 8 or 12 weeks. In South Australia, we are so lucky; with very little effort you can contact your local viral hepatitis nurse and, with their support, rid yourself of your hep C. So, be kind to yourself. Just pick up that phone and give one of those friendly viral hepatitis nurses a call (see inside back page for contact numbers). With so much done by telephone these days, you might only need one face-to-face appointment, and there’s a chance you may only need to get dressed once… v

Lisa Carter

Calming the C

• Information and support in a confidential, friendly environment • Speak to others who have had treatment • Partners, family and friends welcome DUE TO COVID-19 AND THE NEED FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, ALL CALMING THE C SESSIONS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE:

Now meeting at HACKNEY, ELIZABETH Please ring 1800 437 222 for hepatitis information and PORT ADELAIDE For information, phone 8362 8443 See over for dates Call Us! Free, confidential information and support on viral hepatitis:

1800 437 222

Free Fibroscan Clinics • Hutt Street Day Centre: 258 Hutt St, Adelaide SA Calming 5000; call Margery on 0423 782 415 to make an appointment • Information and support in a confidential, • • WestCare Services: 11/19 Millers Ct, Adelaide SA 5000; call Margery on 0423 782 415 to make an appointment Wonggangga Turtpandi Aboriginal Primary Health Care Service (Pt Adelaide CNP); 1 st Wednesday of each month, 9.30–11.30am, 11 friendly environment • Speak to others who have had treatment • Partners, family and friends welcome Now meeting at HACKNEY, ELIZABETH and PORT ADELAIDE DUE TO COVID-19 AND THE NEED FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, ALL LIVER CLINIC SESSIONS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER • Church St, Port Adelaide SA 5015 Anglicare Elizabeth Mission; 17 April, 14 Aug, 13 Nov, For information, phone 8362 8443 See over for dates NOTICE: Please ring 1800 437 222 9.30 am–12pm, 91-93 Elizabeth Way Elizabeth (Bookings via reception in person, or call for hepatitis information 8209 5400)

Noarlunga GP Plus;

fortnightly, Alexander Kelly

Dr, Noarlunga Centre SA 5168 (Bookings via Noarlunga CNP

A Note to Our CNP Clients

We are approaching the COVID-19 pandemic with an abundance of caution in line with the recommendations of health experts. We ask that you arrange for someone else to collect your equipment, if you have

any flu-like symptoms such as fever and cough, or recently returned from travel overseas. We will place equipment on a table for you to pick up: this will maintain social distancing We will fill out the data sheet We recommend that you collect a month’s supply of equipment (in case of any upcoming closures or supply delays) If you can ring ahead, please do so in case any further changes have taken place.

When collecting equipment, we ask that you cooperate with ‘social distancing’ recommendations: These measures are for YOUR safety as well as ours. Please respect the CNP workers so we can keep this service going!