My name is Melanie and I was born in July 1989. I was diagnosed with lipoedema at the beginning of 2020 when I actually only went to the phlebologist because of my many spider veins. He immediately suggested surgery, i.e. liposuction. I thought to myself “What nonsense, as if this is abnormal fat. He just wants to make money. I’m definitely not going to have surgery and I’ll manage to lose the weight just like that.” At this point, I was more bothered by my spider veins than the size of my legs. I didn’t have any pain at that time either. This was to change over the following 10 years.

“Every hot summer was hell for my legs and my thick lower legs bothered me more and more.”

I kept getting to know women who had already had their operation. They were all very satisfied and pain-free. However, I was always put off by the costs and I thought to myself that I could never afford it anyway. At the beginning of May 2022, I decided that I finally wanted to have the operations. To finally go through life without pain again and get my slim legs back – that’s what I wanted! At the time, I was grateful that I was still in stage 1, even though it also started in my arms.

Then everything went quickly. I had a consultation with Dr. George Udrescu in May 2022 and made the surgery appointments immediately afterwards. I’ve now had three operations and can say: it’s worth it! A solution was also found for the financing.

I am now looking forward to using my experience to help affected women, allay their fears and accompany them on their lipedema journey.