00:00I had the personal trainer for about three years, but despite going to the gym and the healthy eating, my legs remained the biggest part of me.
00:12My name's Emma, I'm 23 years old and last year I was diagnosed with stage 1 lipedema.
00:17At school I think I always noticed that my legs were larger than the other girls, I just assumed that was where I held my weight.
00:36After finishing school I went to the GP for another reason and they told me that I should watch what I was eating and try to lose a bit of weight.
00:43She actually said that I should stop eating cake and crisps.
00:47So I got a personal trainer to try and help me lose the weight, obviously I thought it was something that I was doing wrong.
00:54I had the personal trainer for about three years, but despite going to the gym and the healthy eating, my legs remained the biggest part of me.
01:01I saw Shauna Phillips' tweet about the fact that she had surgery on her legs and that it was life changing for her.
01:07I wondered what condition she had with her legs because I thought they looked the exact same as mine and I'd never seen anybody else really with that.
01:14And that's what led me to researching lipedema and ultimately my surgery in Madrid.
01:31Before the surgery I wasn't really able to fit into everyday jeans or even things like ankle boots and heels I couldn't really wear without them being uncomfortable.
01:40So that obviously really affected the way I felt about myself as well and not being able to wear everything that perhaps I wanted to.
01:48Since having it done I've put on a pair of heels and the difference is incredible.
01:52My legs feel so much lighter and I've been back to the gym a couple of times and the exercises that I couldn't do before I can now do easily.
01:58I don't have any aches in my joints like I did before.
02:07I made one TikTok to basically just say don't take no for an answer because lipedema doesn't seem to be recognised in England like it does everywhere else.
02:16And even since going to my GP since receiving the diagnosis they're rather dismissive of it, they don't really tend to acknowledge it.
02:29So there isn't much support for lipedema on the NHS.
02:33I think once you get to stage 4, so fairly immobile, wheelchair bound, that type of thing, the NHS will likely intervene.
02:40But until that point there isn't an option for surgery on the NHS.
02:44So you do have to go privately.
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