Donna Adams spent years carrying her legs containing six to eight litres of fluid – while being told the only solution was diet and exercise.
The 50-year-old, who lives in Ellon, spent the majority of her life wondering why her legs kept getting bigger and bigger no matter what she did.
She explained: “I had a really exaggerated, curvy shape when I was a kid, I had big hips, big bum, school uniforms and going shopping with my mates was upsetting for me.
“I was in every single activity group you could imagine at school, nobody could work out why I was that bit chunkier.
“I had big wobbly thighs, cellulite, I had legs that bruised really easily, I became very self-conscious, I wouldn’t wear shorts or want to participate in sports.”
When she was 20, Donna went to the doctor “in tears” over her condition.
“My legs were covered in cellulite and were really lumpy, it felt like frozen peas underneath,” she said.
She was initially diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which can cause issues with your weight.
But nothing seemed to change, and she kept returning.
“It was just ‘do more dieting and exercise’ – nobody believed me,” Donna said.
The lady on TV ‘with legs like mine’
She didn’t get a proper answer for more than two decades, when she caught an episode of Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies and realised what she’d been contending with all these years.
“I think I was about 44 or 45, I saw lipoedema on Embarrassing Bodies and I thought ‘that’s my legs!’
“There was a lady on TV who had legs like mine – like my mum and my grandmother’s.
“There was a name for it and it wasn’t just being overweight,” she recalled.
The condition causes abnormal fat deposits to build up in parts of the body, which often become painful and easy to bruise.
‘Mum passed away, she was never diagnosed’
Unlike Donna, her forbearers were never aware of lipoedema and suffered devastating complications as a result.
She explained: “My mum was really big and she had the same condition, but she was never diagnosed, she was around 25-30 stone at one point.
“My mum passed away when I was 21, which we put down to her weight.
“She had legs that broke out in sores, then she got sepsis and didn’t go to the hospital.
“She didn’t trust doctors – probably because of the fat-shaming,” Donna added.
After seeing the episode of Embarrassing Bodies, contacted the Talk Lipoedema charity for advice.
What does life with #lipoedema mean to you?? Here are just a handful more responses that we received 💜 let us know yours below ⬇️ #talklipoedema #lipoedemaawarenessmonth2022 #lipedema #lipoedemafighter #lipedemafighter #lipoedemawarrior #lipedemawarrior #lipoedemaawarenes … pic.twitter.com/ZdwrRQRPtu
— TalkLipoedema (@talklipoedema) June 22, 2022
However, when she went to the doctor to discuss the condition, she got the same answer she’d always had in the past.
By this time Donna had been signed off work with mobility problems, but was handed some antidepressants and told to go on a diet.
She said: “I used to work as a tax inspector in London, I did that for 17 years but I was having problems using public transport and I had anxiety and depression.
“By the time I got to a meeting, I’d be so exhausted, I then had to conduct an interview with people and I couldn’t do it.
“When I’d sit in a chair I’d be in absolutely pain, I was becoming increasingly disabled.”
‘Size 14 on top, but have size 26 hips’
Eventually, Donna demanded to be seen by a specialist who confirmed she has advanced lipoedema, which had even caused her to suffer dislocated knees.
She then moved back to Scotland and saw a doctor in Aberdeen in the hopes of getting an appointment with the country’s only dedicated lipoedema surgeon, based in Dundee.
She was first referred to a plastic surgeon, but it seems the end is now in sight as she was given the referral she was after.
Although we all have #lipoedema, we can all experience different symptoms. Fizzing, heaviness + pain are very common with the majority of patients. Do you suffer with these?? If not what are you main symptoms?? #talklipoedema #lipoedema #lipedema #lipoedemafighter #lipedemafi … pic.twitter.com/JINw6RqVhR
— TalkLipoedema (@talklipoedema) June 21, 2022
At her first consultation, Donna learned each of her legs contain six to eight litres of fat.
But, in order to be considered for liposuction, she needs to have a BMI of 35 – which she is on track to achieving.
“At one point, that would have seemed really daunting, but I’d already lost five stone in preparation.
“The top half of my body has always been disproportionate to my lower.
“Now I’m a size 14-16 on top, but have size 26 hips, I’m a really strange shape.
“I’m still working on it – I’m getting there,” she added.
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