Lisa’s New Legs Fund

Those of you who know me, know only too well that after years of dismissing myself as fat, I was diagnosed with a chronic case of not one, but two, debilitating conditions: Lymphoedema and Lipoedema.

The NHS describes these as long-term, chronic, conditions whereby Lipoedema is an abnormal build-up of fat cells occuring in the legs, but rather than being burned through exercise, continues to regenerate.

Before you roll your eyes, understand this: I I have exercised to extremes, I have tried every single diet know to man, I've even forked out for liposuction. This condition gets worse with time.

I used to have great legs. Then they started to swell, and over time, that swelling didn’t lessen. Wearing boots became impossible, and now I can’t even get my feet into some shoes due to the pain.

The pain is excruciating; one of the low points being when only pride prevented me from crawling from a train to a taxi on a particularly bad day.

The only way to prevent this condition getting worse is through intrusive liposuction, and yet, despite its own description of the condition as chronic and long-term, the NHS views this surgery as ‘cosmetic’.

So be it. It’s far from cosmetic, it’s going to give me my mobility back, my confidence back, and – with luck – a pain free future filled with pretty shoes and boots. So I’ve signed on the dotted line.

My surgeon Anne Dancey will perform two operations, removing up to 10 liters of lipoedema fat and fluid at each op. The first is expected to take place around Easter 2018, with the second in August 2018 - what a way to celebrate my 50th birthday!

I will have to continue to wear toe-to-thigh compression garments all day, every day, for life, and I’m already changing my lifestyle in readiness – that means no alcohol, no bread, no alcohol, no pasta (sorry, Italian heritage), no sugar, no alcohol, no dairy, no alcohol, no potatoes, no alcohol, limited meat and - are you getting this? - no alcohol.

So this year, to help me raise the thousands this life-changing surgery is going to cost me, I’d love it if, instead of buying me a birthday cocktail, taking me for a delicious plate of pasta, or even making me a cake, you’d chip into my Lisa’s New Legs Fund.

It may sound silly, but it means everything to me, and when I’ve fully recovered, I’ll whip them out and we can all go dancing.

http://www.talklipoedema.org/about-lipoedema/