Curvy woman diagnosed with fluid-retention condition has nearly 2 GALLONS of ... trends now
A Michigan woman who assumed she was 'curvy' found the extra weight was due to a rare condition only addressed by draining 1.7 gallons of fluid from her legs.
Alisa Vandercruyssen, 28, started to get bigger legs, arms and abdomen at age 17 - despite having an active lifestyle - and sought help from doctors who said she had a weight issue - they even gave her pamphlets for diet and exercise.
With nowhere else to turn, Vandercruyssen looked to YouTube for help and found the inability to lose the weight was due to lipedema.
Lipedema is a chronic condition of fat and connective tissue which builds up in your legs, hips, bottom and sometimes arms.
Vandercruyssen, an aesthetician from Royal Oak, Michigan, is now undergoing surgeries to remove the lipedema nodules and is already feeling 'relieved.'
Ms Vandercruyssen had to fork out $8,000 for her first surgery, but the rest of her operations are covered by insurance
Ms Vandercruyssen decided to have the lipedema nodules removed and traveled out of state to a specialized center, Lipedema Surgery Centre, Roswell, Georgia, for the surgery
Ms Vandercruyssen said: 'Before the diagnosis, I thought I just had thicker legs and cellulite.
'It was a lot of pressure on my knees - I had so much bulk.
'I started to embrace it and thought, 'I guess I'm this curvy girl; that's how I am going to be.''
Lipedema is a condition that exclusively plagues women, about one in nine, and typically starts during puberty, pregnancy or menopause. The exact cause is unknown.
It causes fat below the surface of your skin to grow larger than usual, especially in the lower part of your body.
Aaron Mason, MD, FACS, FAAP, an aesthetic and reconstructive surgeon with Banner–University Medicine North, said in a blog post: 'It can give the appearance that two different bodies have been put together.
'You have a typical upper body and arms but a lower body that is larger in proportion.'
And this appears to be what Ms Vandercruyssen had suffered.
She thinks the condition caused her to gain around 50lbs (3.5st) since she was about 17 years old.
Despite having a healthy diet, exercising regularly and using the weight loss drug Ozempic for six months, her limbs continued to grow and cause her pain.
'I was constantly cutting,' Ms Vandercruyssen said.
'I had a personal
