My deepest thoughts about Lipedema – May it come back someday?

In this post, I want to write about my deepest thoughts about Lipedema and how it still affects me. About the feelings I have when I see women on the street who may have it and how I deal with the fact that Lipedema may come back.

So first of all, I want to answer the question I often got asked: Can removed Lipedema fat come back and am I afraid of it?

To be honest, I am sometimes afraid of it. I could see myself with children someday and I fear that Lipedema could break out again during my pregnancy. But this is not relevant right now. Someday, maybe, but of course those thoughts are still on my mind.

I am afraid of taking the birth control pill again. I stopped taking it about a month ago for a few different reasons, one of which is the fear that the pill could cause Lipedema to come back. Lipedema seems to occur during times of signficant hormonal shifts in women (puberty, pregnancy, and menopause) so obviously the idea of taking hormones again makes me worry. It is really complicated.

On bad days, I am even afraid of running. As many of you might know, I love running. So, it sometimes really annoyes me that I can‘t get my mind free of the fear that Lipedema will come back because of running. But on good days, my mind feels light and so does my body. The ability to move your body and be able to WALK, RUN or JUMP with your legs is the most fantastic feeling on this world, I think. I am blessed that I am able to do all of this. Many people cannot. So, I guess if having fear about Lipedema coming back is the worst thing I have to deal with, then I am more than happy.

Unfortunately, I cannot answer the question if Lipedema will come back for any of us post-surgery. It might or it might not, nobody knows. For me, it is way more important to encourage you to enjoy your life as much as you can, whether you have had liposuction or not.

And if you have had the surgery, absolutely make the best of it! (Well, I give that advice to everyone, liposuction or not.) I truly enjoy every day of my Lipedema free life. I soak it up! You may ask yourself why I call myself Lipedema free? I call myself that because I feel like I am. It’s all about a positive mindset! Reminding myself every day that I‘m Lipedema free, looking and feeling comfortable with my legs and confident in my body, is the key for me to free my mind of negative thoughts and worries about Lipedema. And no matter what anyone else says, don’t let outside opinions bother you. You decide how you feel about things! It is your life and your way. Try to stay positive, regardless.

And even if it comes back, you have already learned how to fight againgst it, so you will get through it again. I know that this would be a setback but you will get through it. Believe me!

What gives me a good feeling is that I am not alone with my story. Your stories also gave and give me hope, as my story may give you hope and courage. It motivates me that I am not only fighting for me, but for all the other women who suffer from it. You motivate me to hit the gym in the morning. I want to show you that you can kick Lipedema in the a**, with hard work and a positive mindset.

Second, I have learned to see Lipedema as my friend and companion. This may sound stupid but it’s not when you deeply think about it. What happens when you see something as a friend or as a companion? You will accept it as a part of your life and is a part of making you the person you are. It gives you a story. A story that is so unique, even if it means that you really have to suffer for a period of time. I suffered, too. But someday it will be worth it.

I want to be honest: I still suffer, when I see a woman walk past me, obviously having Lipedema legs. In that moment I‘m asking myself if she knows about her disease. If I should go over to her and tell her? But HOW? How do you tell somebody you don’t know that the reason for her heavy and lumpy legs is a disease called Lipedema? That I could save her from judging the shape of her legs, from blaming herself, and maybe help stop her suffering? I really struggle with this a lot. I have not found a way to deal with that yet. Maybe you have some experiences with it. Have you ever told a woman about your speculations why her legs are looking like this? If so, it would be really cool if you write me an email and tell me about it at lipedemablog@hotmail.com.

I wish I could pay for all women who suffer from Lipedema to get the special liposuction to treat it. Oh, how fanstatic would that be! But I can’t. Maybe someday when I am a millionare. Haha, just kidding. All I can do is to encourage you to fight, to give you hope with my story, to spread positive feelings about it and to give Lipedema a louder voice. This brings me to the point that there are already a lot of women on Instagram sharing their stories with Lipedema. I take my hat off to all of you, who have the courage to show the world their Lippy legs. You are amazing because by doing this you really give Lipedema a louder voice. And when it gets a louder voice, we bring other people to the table to help us tackle it. People would think twice when judging a woman for her shape and why her legs look like this!

As I bring this post to an end, I thank all of you who are sharing your stories on social media. June is Lipedema awareness month and I am happy that I could share my feelings about it in this post. I hope you liked it.

All my love to you,

Verena

10 facts about my liposuction

1. Who was my specialist?

Dr. Matthias Sandhofer in Linz (Austria)

Home

2. When did I have liposuction?

February 2016

3. How many sugeries did I have?

2 ( upper legs, rear and hip area; arms)

4. How much litres where removed?

2,5 litres from my legs

2,2 litres from my arms

5. How much did I pay?

3.500 €

6. Which technique did my specialist use?

TAL (tumescence assisted liposuction)

7. Did I have a full sleep or a half sleep?

Half sleep with a lot of pain killing medications. 😃

8. How long did I have to stay at home?

About one week.

9. Did I feel pain during surgery?

A little bit, yes. But it was bearable.

10. Am I satisfied with my results?

I am more than satifsfied with my results.

First Liposuction Anniversary

 “One year ago my life started again“, is the sentence with which I often describe the new beginning of my Lipedema free life. One year ago I had liposuction to treat my Lipedema in my legs and arms.

So, this post is fully dedicated to the transformation my body and my mind made, the way I feel about myself today, and what has changed (on the inside and outside of me) during the past year.

My body transformation

My body changed a lot during the first year after liposuction. Already just a few weeks after surgery, my legs were skinnier and more defined than ever before. My hard training sessions finally seemed to pay off. Also my metabolismn started to work faster again which I recognised in a speedy weight loss and a fast digestion. Before liposuction my metabolismn was so slow that I had days where I did not had any bowel movements.

I continued with my old training program which consisted of 4 sessions a week (muscle training and some cardio) and suddendly there were VISIBLE thigh and arm muscles. I had never been able to see any visible muscles on my legs and arms even though I really exercised a lot before sugery. Running suddenly wasn’t hurting my legs and also lifting weights seemed to be much easier than ever before. I felt so light and free in my movements.

I also continued with my vegan lifestyle and it has a great impact to my whole body. My skin got smooth and tight. (This is also due to regular exercising, of course.)

My lymph system also recovered because the removal of the sick fat cells enabled the normal circulation of the lymph fluid which had a great impact on my swelling and the pain I had before liposuction. So, therefore I do not need to wear compression anymore. I sometimes wear them when I do a long running session or have to sit the entire day to support them a bit.

Before surgery I had 68 Kilogram (149 lbs), currently I am at 60 Kilogram (132 lbs) at a height of 166 Centimetres (5‘4“) tall. I lost weight on my whole body (even in my FACE!). It is possible to have a defined body even if you had Lipedema. A lot of training, healthy food and liposuction (in my eyes the basic treatment to „heal“ and support Lipedema to smooth the way to a better quality of life.)

Here are some photos for you:

Left: 1 day before liposuction, middle: 2 months after liposuction, right: 1 year after liposuction

My new mindset

Further on, my attidude about myself changed a lot thanks to the transformation of my legs and arms. I always hated being myself, there was nothing I loved and there were days I could not look into the mirror. I was so self-critical that I always compared myself to girls who  looked so perfect to me. Then I punished myself with even harder exercising. It was a vicious circle. I blamed myself for my shape, until I got my diagnosis.

With successful liposuction and a LOT OF personality training, I began to understand that positive thinking about myself and self acceptance would help me to get happier. I began to love my legs for their shape and I accepted being less than perfect. I learned to love my stretch marks, my freckled skin, and even my bad connective tissue because all of that is a part of my life. I questioned our society’s beauty standards, in which it seems we are only „beautiful“ when we are super skinny, tall, and have perfect and smooth skin, etc.

All of that lead to a new confident feeling about myself, and liposuction helped me to start a new life, in which I love being me, being individual, being natural. I don’t want to have any of the things I admired for so long when I looked at other girls because I do now have things that I admire about my own body.

I love my legs for what they are even if I know that I have to look after them, even if I know that I have to exercise a lot to look defined. I wouldn’t want to change with any other person on this world. This is my life, my legs, my disease and my story. Without that story I would not be me and without Lipedema I would not have gotten to a strong, confident, self-loving state of mind. I would never have created this blog and I would never have gotten to know a lot of you, who have the same disease as I do.

I learned to see at least one positive thing in everything that happened in my life. I do not despair of Lipedema or the loss of my Daddy. No, quite the reverse! It gave me so much strenght to move on, to cease my dreams, and to be happy.

Stephen Hawking once said: „However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.“

And it is so true, there is really ALWAYS something you can do, even with Lipedema.

My current feeling about myself

I feel confident, happy, healthy, curious, loved, beautiful and strong.

Confident because I know that there are people who look up to me. Thank you.

Happy because I appreciate everything I have.

Healthy because of being Lipedema free.

Curious because I started to share my Lipedema story with the world.

Loved because I know that there will be at least one person who always stands behind me and supports me on my way.

Beautiful because I accepted myself as perfectly unperfect and I’m happy being just me.

Strong because all the bad things made me into the person I am today.

My wishes for your and my future

I would love if my blog is inspiring even more people around the world (especially women who suffer from Lipedema) like it did the last months since I created it and that my story helps you to have a more positive feeling about yourself.

I want to give you the feeling that you are not alone and that there is hope. There is always hope.

I wish that you find a way to stand up fighting against it even if you fall down a thousand times like I did.

I wish that you have the possibitly to find the right treatment and that Lipedema doesn‘t push you into depression and negativity.

For myself, I wish that I will continue with my positive feelings about myself and that I will enjoy life as long as I can. I wish for myself that I will always find a way out of bad times.

Thank you for reading my blog post and I hope that it inspires you in your fight against Lipedema.

I’ll end with another quote from Stephen Hawking:

„Look up at the stars

and not down at your feet.

Try to make sense of what you see,

and wonder about what makes the universe exist.

Be curious.“

Preparations for Liposuction

In this post, I want to summarize the most important points that you will have to prepare for and think of before you have liposuction to treat your Lipedema.

If you still haven’t decided when to do liposuction, I would recommend you the winter months/early spring months, as the temperature is cold and perfect for your legs to wear compression tights after surgery without having to sweat a lot.

If you have arranged your life-changing appointment for liposuction with your specialist, here are some things to remember:

1. Make sure that you have at least seven days off to recover from the procedure afterwards. You won’t be able to go to work or school.
2. Remember that you have to avoid taking medications that dilute your blood for about one month before liposuction. When you take such medications, it may cause complications during the operation because your body will lose more blood than normal. Medications that dilute your blood are, for example: Aspirin or Thomapyrin because they contain acetylsalicylic acid. Ask your doctor about medications that have blood diluting effects.
3. One week before you have liposuction, you can take homeopathic medications like Arnica Globuli. They reduce the swelling and bruises that you will get after the surgery. Take about 5 to 6 globuli three times a day.
4. Don’t over-exert yourself with heavy exercising the day before surgery. Your body should rest because it will need a lot of energy for surgery. So, do something that relaxes you like listening to music, reading a book and stuff like that.
5. Be sure that you buy yourself compression garments if you still don’t have any. You will have to wear them for about 5 to 8 weeks after liposuction.  Some specialists, like Dr. Matthias Sandhofer in Linz, where I did my surgery, recommends you to wear compression tights and a Mieder (another form of strong compression garment) one week after surgery to support your legs as much as possible. Inform yourself about your specialist’s approach.
6. Make sure that one of your friends or family members travel with you to support you after the surgery, especially when the specialist doesn’t offer stationary beds like Dr. Matthias Sandhofer in Linz. You will have to stay at a hotel.
7. If you have to stay at a hotel, take something with you that you can lay in your bed like at least a blanket that avoids making the hotel bed wet and dirty because after liposuction, the tumescence fluid will come out of the little holes in your legs and may drench your bandages.
8. Take wide and comfortable clothes and wide shoes with you because you will get many layers of bandages after the surgery and won’t fit in your normal clothes. I took some of my boyfriend’s pants and Crocs (shoes) with me. Don’t worry when you will walk and look like a penguin. I love penguins and felt very funny walking like them. 😉
9. Buy yourself some chocolate or any soul food you love to make yourself feel good after surgery. Don’t forget to drink a lot afterwards. Remember that you will have to be empty-stomached five hours before liposuction.
10. Take pain killing medications with you and take them immediately when your are back in your room after surgery!!! I forgot to buy them before surgery, so my boyfriend had to run to get me some after surgery.

I will continue with some points that you can or should follow after surgery:

1. Stop taking Arnica Globuli on the day of your surgery.
2. Wear your compression garments.
3. Two days after surgery you can take a medication called Madaus Reparil to decrease swellings and water excess in your legs and/or arms.
4. Renew your bandages everyday. Ask someone for help.
5. Follow your specialists direction when you can try to have a shower. But remember to wash only with water (no soap allowed.) And yes, you will stink a lot, but don’t worry about the unpleasant smell. 😀 After you shower, stick down your holes with plaster and put on your compression.
6. Once the holes of the procedure have closed (this will be about one week after lipo), you can use a gel called Contratubex for your scar healing. It helped me a lot. In Germany and Austria you can get it at the counter or via Internet.
7. Take pain killing medications as long as the pain is not bearable without them. But never take more than allowed on one day. Make sure what your specialist recommends you to take.

I hope you are not completely overwhelmed by these points and that they will make it easier for you. It may sound a lot to follow but it’s possible.

If you have any further questions regarding the time before and after liposuction, write me an email via lipedemablog@hotmail.com.

Thank you for reading my blog post and I wish you a successful liposuction and a speedy recovery.

I am ending my blog post with a fitting quote:

“You were born to win,

but to be a winner,

you must plan to win,

prepare to win,

and expect to win.”

Full Legs And Abs Home Workout

Hey strong Lippy Ladies,

In this post I want to share my new home workout with you. All you need for it is your body and a mat. I tried to create a workout where you only need your own body weight because it is very effective and should be never replaced by a full workout with weights like in the gym. You can do it wherever you want: at home, at your gym and even outdoors…

Try it twice a week and you’ll be safe. I love it so much because it is so much fun. The exercises aren’t difficult and are very soft to your legs. I also did some of these exercises before I have had Liposuction and I had no pain.

Just give it a try. 😉 And if you have any questions requarding exercises/workouts (with Lipedema), don’t hesitate to write me via lipedemablog@hotmail.com.

At the moment my legs are doing so well. I will soon write a blogpost about the current condition of my legs and a home workout for your arms and back.

Download pdf file here: legs-and-abs-home-workout

Butterflies with Elephant Legs – a poem

Today I want to share my self written poem about Lipedema with you. This is just a very good way for me to deal with it. I tried to express the thoughts that women who suffer from Lipedema like me are hiding from the world and put it into a poem. Just read it and feel free to share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag it with #butterflieswithelephantlegs. 

Women with Lipedema are like butterflies with elephant legs.

They want to feel beautiful and light,

But the heavy elephant legs covers what is inside.

Like butterflies in disguise,

Who are searching for a way to fight,

For a pain free and more happy life.

Lets strip off the heavy sheath

And find the beauty underneath.

A beauty that is no longer hide

For those who always thought we lied.

My Lipedema Photo Story

On basis of former and current photos of my body, I want to show you the progress of Lipedema in my legs over the past years.

The start of my story begins with a photo of 2009 that shows myself at the age of fifthteen. I was trying to take some funny shots with my rabbit, who was not very enthusiastic about that. Whatever, at that time I was happy and never worried about my legs or my rear not fitting to the rest of my body. They still looked skinny, felt very normal and didn’t hurt. I had no idea about a disease called Lipedema and that it will influence my whole life in less than five years.

In August 2013, I was nineteen, my legs still looked skinny and didn’t hurt, although I sometimes had the feeling that my rear didn’t fit to the rest of me and that my legs looked a little bit unshapely. I just did my high-school diploma and planed to go to Sankt Pölten to attend a school for ‘Sozialpädagogik’. At that time I started to run and work out regularly because I wanted to get more defined. In December 2013, I decided to live vegan due to ethical reasons.

One year and a lot of running sessions and work outs later, I started to recognise that something must be wrong with me. I gained 6 Kilograms (13 lbs) and my legs felt heavy and lumpy. If you compare the photos of 2013 with this two of 2014, you can see that Lipedema broke out during the last year and was truely affecting my upper legs and rear. My arms were still not affected by Lipedema. At that time I still had no idea that I suffered from a chronic fat disorder and blamed myself for getting fatter and fatter.

One year later, in July 2015, the disease was at it’s worst. I was 21 and tried to enjoy some days in Croatia with my friends. At that time I already knew about Lipedema and that I was affected by it but I didn’t want that anybody knows about my secret, so I only told it my best friends. It was so hard for me wearing a bikini and showing my lumpy and fat legs that permanentely hurt. I tried to avoid looking down to them because everytime I did, I just had the feeling that nobody would find them sexy and would think that I worked hard for my body shape. I hated them because they didn’t fit to my active personality and to my vegan lifestyle. Many of the people who knew that I live vegan and exercise five days a week, asked me if I already had lost weight. I always answered: “I don’t know because I don’t weigh myself.” I lied! I weighed myself everyday and noticed that I gained 10 Kilograms (22 lbs) in only two years. I felt so hesistant that I started to hate being myself. I wanted to be someone else who has skinny and beautiful legs. Legs that don’t hurt and legs that are healthy. I couldn’t wait until February 2016, when I would finally have my Liposuction.

DCIM100GOPRO

Another year past and these last photos are showing myself after six months post Liposuction which I had in February 2016 with Dr. Matthias Sandhofer in Linz. It was the best decision I have ever made in my life. It’s not just about having as skinny legs as I had with fifthteen, it’s the feeling that I am myself again, that I am pain free, confident, and happy again. It‘s  about having my legs and arms back. It’s about starting to love myself again and starting to think out of the box and questioning our sick societys „beauty standards“. I am just a strong women that loves all her stretchmarks, her bad connective tissue, her light skin, her freckled face. I love being unperfect. I love being me and Lipedema is a part of my story and fighting against or should I better say with it, is the path I am supposed to go. That’s all.

I want to end with one of my favourite quotes of ‘The Lord of the Rings’: “This task was appointed to you. If you don’t find a way, no one will.”

 

Lipedema: Do’s and Dont’s

In this post, I want to list the most important Do’s and Dont’s when you have Lipedema. It really helped me to know what’s good for my legs and arms and what is not, so I wrote it down for you, too. I hope you can use some of these tips and please remember that you are not doing anything wrong if you don’t follow all of them.

So, let’s start with the…

…Do’s

1. Wearing compression everyday is a very important “Do”. It is even more important after you have Liposuction on your legs. Remember that you put it on directly BEFORE you stand up in the morning, otherwise there is no effect.
2. Doing lympathic drainage massages twice a week helps to support your lymph system and it’s relaxing too.
3. Doing moderate exercising like swimming, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, nordic walking, pilates or yoga has a great effect on your whole body. Try to work out regularly, at least 2 times a week.
4. Checking out your thyroid is also very important. A lot of women who suffer from Lipedema are having problems with their thyroid. This is something you should get checked by your doctor, and you may need medication to deal with it.
5. Drink teas that stimulate your metabolism like stinging nettle tea or ginger tea. Because of the fluid-filled fat in your legs and arms, your lymph system is working very slowly which also means that your metabolism is working at a low level.
6. Eat more vegetables and fruits, and fewer dairy products and meat. Your body needs more vitamins and antioxidants, to keep your body from becoming too acidic. The lymph system helps to reduce harmful substances in your body, but your lymph system has to work even harder when you have Lipedema. You can help to support it with healthy food.
7. Choose water instead of sugary drinks. Water is essential, and not just when you suffer from Lipedema. If you drink a lot of water (2-3 litres a day) you also support your lymph system.
8. Last but not least: Do some leg exercises before you put on your compression and stand up in the morning. If you go to the link below, you find a video of me where I am showing you some possible moves.  Link to Video

…Dont’s

1. Try to avoid running and other jumping exercises like rope-skipping or jumping (without compression).
2. Try to avoid standing too long without walking short distances in between and wearing compression.
3. Try to avoid sitting too long without walking short distances in between. Standing and sitting have a very negative effect on your legs, because lymph fluid cannot be transported to the centre of your body where it will be excreted with your urine.
4. Try to avoid or completely give up smoking and drinking alcohol as it has a very negative impact to your lymph system and in general on your whole body.
5. Try to avoid long hot baths and going to the sauna. The heat is very bad for your legs and arms as it increases swelling and pain, and can keep the fluid stuck in your limbs. This tip is also very important until 3 to 4 months after Liposuction.
6. The last point is only for those who already have had surgery done on their legs and/or arms: Don’t go the the tanning salon or lay in the sun until the scars which you will get after the procedure are healed and rarely visible. They will turn dark because of the UV rays. This is just an aesthetic tip. In addition to this I used an ointment called Contratubex on the little scars to help them heal better.

Thank you for reading my blog post.

My Weekly Training Sessions

In this post, I want to share what a typical training week of mine looks like ever since I had Liposuction surgery in my legs and arms for my Lipedema. I also added my individual training plan, so that you have an idea of how I like to train my body at the moment.

So, my week contains three training sessions where I train my whole body to improve my overall physical condition. When I am very motivated, I try to do one extra running session per week too. I started doing these workouts about 2 months after my surgery.

When I am in Vienna (where I live and go to university), I hit the gym. When I am at my parents home (which is in the country), I work out outside. I really recommend you to do training sessions outside as often as you can because the fresh air has a lot of benefits for your body.

At the moment, I am training my whole body three times a week. If you’re someone who has had liposuction for Lipedema, when you get stronger, you should split up the different muscle groups of your body.  For example, one day do sessions where you train only your legs and butt, or your chest and back, things like that.

I want to add that I am not a professional, I just compile the exercises that I feel comfortable with. I choose exercises which are positive for my Lymph system (f.e. leg pumping exercises to transport all the lymph away) and not because I want to look like The Hulk!

So, this is how a typical training session of mine is looking at the moment:

1. Warm-Up

• 10 Minutes Cross-Trainer

2. Exercises (3 sets, 12 reps each)

Legs and Butt:

• Leg Press with 53 Kilograms weight
• Plie Squats with 5 Kilograms weight on your extended arms
• Hip Lifts with one leg in the air
• Donkey Kicks

Abs:

• Leg Raises
• Heel Touches
• Leg Pull-Ins
• Cycling-Crunches

Back and Arms:

• Lat Pull-Downs
• Pull-Ups
• Push-Ups

3. Cardio

• 20-30 Minutes Cross-Trainer or Running/Treadmill (I am already allowed to run again because my Liposuction was done more than 3 months ago; more mentioned further down)

4. Cool-Down

• Some stretching to slow down my pulse rate

For those who have done the Liposuction only recently: You should avoid running or jumping exercises for 3 months after the procedure because if you do them too soon, you will lengthen the healing process for your legs and that will have negative effects on them. It is important to speak with your specialist about such things, so she/he can make a suggestion specifically for you and your body.

If you haven’t been treated yet, you should also avoid running as mentioned above, because it can speed up the process of gaining more and more fluid-filled fat in your legs. If you are a running freak like me and can’t resist, you should really wear compression during your running sessions and avoid running long distances on hard ground (this includes the treadmill!)

I can really recommend Lipedema affected women to work out regularly by following the above mentioned points to slow down the process of gaining fluid-filled fat in your legs and arms. It really helped me to keep the disease contained.

In a future post, I will give you an insight into my eating habits and why I think that Veganism has a lot of benefits for people suffering from Lipedema.

Let’s start to move our bodies and thank you for reading my blog post! ☺

My Liposuction and Recovery

As I promised on Instagram, this post is about the Liposuction I had done on my legs and arms, and how my recovery went.

I decided to have the procedure done in February because, in Austria, February is free when you are a student. I wanted to have enough time for my recovery because I didn’t know how my body would react to this serious procedure.

So, I had Liposuction done on the 2^nd (upper legs and rear) and 3^rd (upper arms) of February, 2016. Dr. Sandhofer advised me to do it on two separate days because all the medications you get are very hard on your body. I didn’t have a full sleep because I had to move during the Liposuction, so that the specialist is able to see where he should remove the fat and how it fits to the rest of the body. I got a lot of pain medications during the procedure and it felt like being drunk.

First of all, they injected a tumescence fluid that made my legs look like I was the Hulk. No matter how funny this sounds, it is really important to separate the muscles and fat. By using the tumescent fluid, the specialist is able to remove just the fluid-filled fat without destroying the muscles, the lymphatics, and the ligaments. This hurt a little bit and was a really strange feeling.

When the tumescence fluid has worked in, the specialist starts to remove the fluid-filled fat with a long but thin needle which vibrates a little bit. When I felt some pain, they injected more pain killing medications. I have to say that this wasn’t very pleasant and I really felt the pain when he started to remove the fat between my legs and by my knees (I think that is due to the fact that the bones there are very close to the fat).

After the procedure they wrap your legs and rear with a lot of bandages. They do this because, for the next few hours, the tumescence fluid will be running out through the little holes that were made during the procedure with the needle to remove the fat. Then, I had to put on a Mieder (this is a really tight kind of pantyhose with a hole between your legs for using the toilet without having to take it off). I also got an injection to prevent thrombosis.

Here you can see the bandages and the Mieder.

My whole body was shaking because on the one side I was really relieved, but on the other I felt the pain of the procedure and my legs were really swollen. (For anyone going to do this, don’t expect that you will have skinnier legs immediately after the procedure. They will be swollen because of the heavy fat removal.)

After the Liposuction and the wrapping of my legs, I was able to walk back to the hotel where we stayed. Dr. Sandhofer is a private specialist and has his own clinic -it is not in a hospital where you can sleep. I was really happy that I could move but of course I was walking like a penguin because my legs were hurting and swollen, and they were really big and stiff because of the many layers of bandages.

Back at the hotel, I stayed in bed until the next day. It is really important that someone will travel with you because you will need some support, so my boyfriend went with me and got me something to eat. I took some painkillers and tried to eat something. It is really important that you drink a lot after the procedure because your body has to flush out all of the medications. I also had strong ventricular tachycardia, which is a pulse rate of more than 100 beats per minute! Don’t underestimate such a procedure. It isn’t an easy one and your body needs time to adjust and heal.

So, that first night, I just moved to the bathroom and back, tried to sleep, and drank a lot of water. With the painkillers, I was able to sleep a little bit but when they wore off, I felt horrible pain. The first night was the hardest. I just slept about 2-3 hours because I wasn’t able to move to the right or the left. I had to sleep on my back and that was really uncomfortable. It is also very disturbing that you feel the tumescence fluid running out of your legs. I had to put down some towels in the bed to avoid making it wet.

The next morning I still felt my heart pumping very fast, and I was really tired and exhausted. But I still had the Liposuction on my upper arms done. It was the same procedure as on my legs, but way more bearable. After wrapping them, I could not eat on my own, so my boyfriend had to feed me. He was such a lovely support. They also removed the wet bandages from my legs and wrapped me with new ones.

After the second Liposuction, I was allowed to drive home. The second night still wasn’t easy but I was able to sleep a little bit more than 4 hours. The next day, I removed the wet bandages from my legs and arms, and was able to take a short shower (JUST WITH WATER!!! No soap allowed!) and then I filled the little holes with medical plaster because the tumescence fluid was all gone.

How my legs were looking after the shower. Still really swollen.

The next 10 days (I can recommend you to take about 10 to 15 days to recover if it’s possible with work or school) I stayed in my bed most of the time, but in between I tried to walk really short distances. The pain got better and better from day to day and after three days, I could see that my legs and arms were getting skinnier. They were still swollen but I had a completely new feeling. The diseased fat was removed and I was so happy.

The first week, I had to wear the Mieder on the arms and legs, and compression on the legs. After one week, I only had to wear the compression on the legs because the little holes from the needle were closed. Bruises came three to four days after the Liposuction but the bruising wasn’t that bad because I had only removed 2.2 Litres on my upper legs and 0.5 Litres on my upper arms.

This is the Mieder I had to wear.

The swelling held on for about one month but the bruises went away really quickly, within two to three weeks. I still felt some pain but it was bearable. After one and a half months, I began to do very short and easy work outs. You are not allowed to run or jump… also, sitting in a sauna and hot baths aren’t very good for your recovery.

After two months, there was a huge difference on my legs, rear and arms. They became much smaller and more firm, as you can see in the picture.  But most importantly, the constant Lipedema pain in my legs and arms that I had before the procedure was finally gone.

Left: One day before Liposuction
Right: Two months after Liposuction

I had to wear the compression for about 5 weeks but I decided to wear it for 8 because it felt so comfortable and the garments supported my legs a lot.

All in all, I lost 7 Kilogram (15 lbs). Now I am at 60.5 Kilogram (133 lbs). I am also now able to gain muscle mass. After two and a half months, I started to exercise regularly — about 3 to 4 times a week. Exercising will support your lymph system and has a lot of other advantages. I also recommend anyone who does this procedure to continue with lymphatic drainage massages; they really helped me after I had the Liposuction done to reduce the swelling. It takes about six months until the final results of the procedure will be seen.

The left picture was taken in February 2015, the right two months after my Liposuction.

I know that there are parts of this process which sound really scary, but hey, I am alive, pain free and more than happy. Life isn’t easy and without risking something you won’t gain anything. I got back my skinny legs and arms, and the persistent pain I had been living with was finally gone. I am also able to lose weight and have back the control over my body. I really feel very comfortable in my “new” home and I do not regret the whole procedure.

Pain will make you stronger! Even if that sounds stupid, I really believe it!

You can really benefit from the Liposuction when you suffer from Lipedema. The earlier you do the procedure, the better results you will achieve (and I don’t just mean “skinny” legs and things like that but also your metabolism will work again and your health in general will benefit from it.) I don’t want to sound superficial, when I talk about how lucky I am to have my skinny legs back. I just want to give hope to women who suffer from this disease and encourage them to never give up, just like I did.

I want to show you the real results of this procedure. All my pictures are real and not photo shopped.

Two and a half month after my Liposuction.

I hope that I have reached a lot of you strong Lipedema ladies and that you start to stand up and fight for a pain free life!

In a future post, I will write about how I keep my body fit and what exercises help(ed) me to gain muscle.