“All my life I was told that it was my fault, that I was too fat and that I had to question my way of life.” When the angiologist made the diagnosis of lipedema last May, the announcement had almost the effect of relief for Lidwine Dacier-Falque. The 30-year-old, an educator of young children in a Toulouse nursery, suffered from disproportionately swollen legs all her life, without knowing that a true pathology was hiding behind it.
“I always thought it was a weight problem that I couldn’t lose,” the young woman told BFMTV.com. “Même si je voyais bien que j’avais beau m’enfermer dans des régimes, perdre du poids, faire du sport, rien n’y faisait. J’avais la taille très fine mas des hanches très marquées et des jambes qui ne maigrissaient Never”.
It is on social networks that the young woman finds out about lipedema for the first time, in November 2021. An influencer says that she suffers from this chronic disease that, however, affects 1 in 10 women, according to the WHO. A disease recognized by the World Health Organization, but not on the scale of France. In her video, the young woman explains that she suffers from an accumulation of subcutaneous fat in the lower part of the body, especially in the legs, buttocks and sometimes the arms.
A disease that is often confused with obesity or being overweight
“I recognized myself in his testimony,” says Lidwine Dacier-Falque, who was also questioned by our colleagues from the midi office. “I have been living with this since I was 15 years old, since I was a teenager. In addition to the aesthetic side that is difficult to live with, fat deposits are physically very painful, just to move. Never wear a skirt, dress or shorts in summer because I didn’t dare to show my legs. My joints ache.”
“But they had never told me about it until then. It is a disease that is very little known. People, even family members, told me it was my fault, that I was just overweight, that I wasn’t active enough. However, he knew very well that I was someone who moved a lot and was active, “says the 30-year-old woman, who worked for 7 years at Disneyland Paris and now works in a nursery with young children. She has to use all day.
Once the diagnosis was made last May, the young woman decided to have surgery. However, she discovers that in France lipedema is not recognized as a chronic disease by the Social Security, and that the possible surgery would be considered an aesthetic intervention, therefore 100% at her expense. “The doctors told me that she needed three operations, which cost about 8,000 euros each!” Ludwine regrets, that she cannot afford such an amount.
“A Vicious Disease”
“It is not an aesthetic operation of comfort!” Repeats the Tolosa, who describes “permanent edema that (l) prevents living, moving and (moving) like everyone else”, and regrets that lipedema is so little known by the general. public, but not yet recognized as such by the medical community.
Last June, he still managed to undergo surgery for the first time in Belgium, with a specialist who offered him an operation for around 4,000 euros, with the help of a friend who had agreed to advance the sum. “The surgeon decided to target the thighs first because there were the largest accumulations of fat, which sometimes made it difficult to walk. He removed 6 liters of edema per leg!”.
If the intervention goes very well for Ludwine, it is nonetheless heavy and particularly difficult physically. “We left there with the lower part of the body swollen, with many bruises because inevitably the doctor draws a lot of blood with the fat.” One month after the operation, the educator lost 9 cm of difference in each of her thighs. She says she is “satisfied”, although she knows that after all these years of suffering, she is aware that she suffers from dysmorphia, an obsessive disorder directed towards this part of her body.
From now on, to prevent “this atrocious disease” from nesting in her thighs again, Ludwine must take care to maintain a healthy lifestyle. To get to the end of the process, she would now like to resort to the other two recommended surgeries for her calves, buttocks and arms. She has thus launched an online kit, appealing to the generosity of Internet users, who do not have the means to afford it.
Source: BFM TV
