Lipedema Awareness Month June 2015 Lipedema Sister Interview Stephanie Graham Christina: Hello, everyone. This is Christina with Creative Life Enterprises and I'm doing something different this month for my Thursday posts. I'll be doing a podcast format post each Thursday through June for Lipedema Awareness Month. My theme for this year's Lipedema Awareness Month is Fight Lipedema. I'm running a Fight Lipedema T Shirt campaign throughout June. Visit creativelifeenterprises.com/shirts to see the newest I Fight Lipedema Shirts for sale. Proceeds from the sale of the shirts will help raise money for Lipedema education, other lipedema sisters with health issues, and funding for my future surgeries with a specialist in Germany. Different designs will be offered each week through July 8. Lipedema is a painful fat disorder that is misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed in the United States and around the world. I've had lipedema since I was ten-years-old, but didn't know it until four years ago when I was diagnosed. The diagnosis was difficult to come to terms with, but in the four years since finding out my health issues had a name, I've met some wonderful women online, mostly through Facebook groups. During lipedema awareness month I wanted to introduce you to four of my lipedema sisters. This week's lipedema sister interview is with Stephanie Graham from Chicago, Illinois. Stephanie is an artist working in photography and short film production. You can find her work at missgraham.com. Christina: This is Christina with Creative Life Enterprises and for my next interview, my next lipedema sister, I have Stephanie Graham on the phone. Hi, Stephanie. Stephanie: Hi.
Christina: Hi. Would you tell everybody about yourself first. Stephanie: Okay. Hi, everybody. I'm Stephanie. I'm an artist. I'm in my 30s, I'm 32, and I live in Chicago. And you know, I'm just a girl trying to have fun and make her art. Christina: What kind of art do you do? Stephanie: I do photography and then I've sort of gotten into short form videos, like short videos. My main project is a project right now called So This One Guy, and it's dating stories of women sharing dating stories on video. So I set up this story telling day and have women just come and share video, just to share experiences. Not necessarily a man bashing site or anything. Just sort of like, oh, brother, that happened to me too kind of thing. 'Cause I think like when you're dating it's hard. You meet someone, like weird people and you meet great people and it might not work out or something. So it's just like this up and down thing. But like nobody wants to admit they really want a partner so they try to play it cool at it. And so just exploring, I'm just exploring those relationships -- girls, ladies sharing their stories and I post them online. It's sort of a beginning project. I'm not that sure like outside of posting on a website and social media where it will go but I'm trying to figure that out. I'm still recording stories and whatnot. Christina: That sounds like fun. So you and I met through a Yahoo group about lipedema. Stephanie: Yeah. Christina: Yeah, the Yahoo group. So how did you find out about
lipedema? Stephanie: I don't know if that Yahoo group is still around. I think it is, I think I still get notifications. I don't participate anymore. Christina: It's not -- I don't either. It's not very active anymore. Stephanie: Okay. Yeah, 'cause I cut down on email, I should just unsubscribe to it. But maybe I won't. But anyway, so lipedema -- how I found about it was I've always tried to lose weight. I feel like there's always a struggle with my "weight" problem and I was trying to figure out what is going on because I've had some success with some diets that have extreme calorie deficits. But even when I was on that weight loss journey if I would lose weight I never got down to like a size where I was like, oh, cool, now I can just maintain because of my legs and my arms, but mostly my legs. I would see them as sort of not shaped or they would be "cellulite" and I was like, what? What is going on? So fast forward a few years and I'm walking home and these guys are in a car and they're like, hey, baby, what's up girl? Can I talk to you? And I'm, no, I'm going home. I'm not interested in talking to you when you're hanging out in front of a car. I'm going home. And they just got really aggressive, like who are you? And you need to take care of those fat legs. And I was like really? 'Cause I was wearing a dress. I felt totally comfortable in a dress as long as I wore spanx. Jet black spanx on my legs. I just love them. Jet black tights. And I was just like, I mean that was just -- God, what is going on here? This jerk -- so I just got online and I started doing research. And I had started doing research before that but then I saw, I think it was tight fat legs or something like that.
It wouldn't go down and all this kind of stuff and I came across lipedema. Looked into it and I'm like, you know what, I'm going to see a doctor about this and I ended up looking up lipedema doctors. Found one in the city, a lymphedema doctor, cause I know you can get lymphedema. This doctor would see cancer patients who had developed lymphedema. So it's like tongue tied - lipedema. So I saw the lymphedema doctor and I made an appointment and it was her nurse who suggested I go to another place in Chicago called the Rehabilitation Institute where there was a doctor there, Dr. Gamble, who has since retired. So I got an appointment with her, went there, and she diagnosed me with a mild lipedema. She asked me -- she looked at me -- I sort of want to also -- is that part of it? I went to another doctor too. Christina: You'll get mixed up. Stephanie: Sorry. I'll keep on the track that I'm on. So she recommended -- so she diagnosed me with lipedema. And that's where the journey began. And that was in 2012. Christina: How did you think your doctor visits had gone? Did you feel any kind of bias through the doctors or did you have a pretty good doctor? Did you have a good experience? Stephanie: She -- at first it was good. I mean she was a really tough doctor. She didn't really like -- she was nice. At first she was sort of rude but I think that was about a medical note I was supposed to have and it was something unrelated. So that was sort of jarring at first because when you first meet a doctor you don't know what to expect. But any doctor really. But after -- she sort of sat there, she looked at me, asked me questions, real straight forward.
And it was fine because at the end of the day I don't need you to be my friend. I just need you to know what's going on. So that was good. I was glad that she diagnosed me with that. I have had -- because of me not being able to lose weight in my legs and arms, I won't really tone them up or anything like that. I thought about plastic surgery and I'm like maybe I just need to get this cut off. I'm trying to do the best I can. Maybe if I get it cut off, this extra stuff, that it would be gone and it would be all good. But when I went to see a plastic surgeon at a hospital he was like, no. Your body holds fat in a way -- this is not going to be what you think it's going to be. And he suggested I go to another doctor at a lifestyle center. And they suggested like gastric bypass and all that stuff. But in a way of like let's help you lose the weight. No one has really fat shamed me or automatically -- I've only had like one doctor and maybe a new doctor I started to see but she's aware of the lipedema and just didn't have the knowledge behind it so she started to believe (inaudible) when it comes to the weight but in stuff like blood, my blood tests and stuff like that, but -- sorry it feels like I'm rambling. I don't feel like -- I've only had one doctor that automatically goes to when they see me where they go into their whole health spiel, where they go, we want to make sure you exercise and blah blah blah. Yeah. I've only had a doctor that did that and then after I told him he was, oh, cause everybody's always heard of lymphedema but nobody's heard of lipedema. Christina: I know. I've had that same too. What kind of treatment have you gone through? Have you gone through conservative treatment? Stephanie: Yeah. So with Dr. Gamble, under her care she sent me to the Rehabilitation Institute here in Chicago. It's called (inaudible) and there was a woman there that did some manual lymphatic drainage on me. I've done the compression wraps. I have pantyhose, compression pantyhose which suck. I call them a chastity belt. I mean once these things go on there is no need. I mean they're expensive.
They're tight as hell. You're not taking them off for nobody or for no reason. I mean they're not the kind of tights you can just put on and off. I mean once those babies are on, they're on. And people say like, oh, they loosen up over time, which might be true but -- they are tough. Christina: I know. Have you thought about talking to any of the doctors that are now in the US about the WAL liposuction? Stephanie: I want to. I actually contacted Dr. Amron in LA who did Krystal. I'm going to LA just to visit friends and I got an appointment with him. Dr. Herbst is like yeah, this could -- if Dr. Herbst thinks that it could help me I'm going to keep that appointment and go have a consultation with him. But the thing that sucks -- I mean you hope that these doctors -- the thing that sucks about lipedema with the liposuction is that there's no one to my knowledge that's like yeah, I had WAL thirty years ago and look at me. There's no one out there that's done it, that's had it that long, that's had liposuction for lipedema reasons. Right now anybody people who post pictures or share their experience with you, it's all so new, which is exciting but also scary. I think it would be cool for the people who have had the liposuction thirty years, if there's a young person who's been diagnosed or an older person who's been diagnosed, you'll have the documentation to be able to show them this is what you can expect. This is what you can expect visually and this is what you can expect internally and how you can feel from it. But right now we're all right now trying to figure it all out together. Christina: I think some of the German doctors do have -- like Stutz and Rapprich, I think they have some paperwork and documentation but it goes back, I think it was the mid-90s that they started doing tumescent and then WAL. But it's all in German. But it's the German doctors, the ones who've been doing it the longest, I think they do have some documentation but it's more difficult for one thing because it's in German and because of the country, they can only let -- they have different laws and different things that they have to go through
about publishing their information. (Links to the research about liposuction is available on the blog post in the show notes) Stephanie: Oh, okay, because I'm -- even if they were to show a picture that would be cool because a thing like Germany -- I would go there but you have to live there while they do that and I just don't -- I don't know how. Have you been to Germany? Christina: Not yet. I want to. Stephanie: Yeah, I would too. Who doesn't? But I couldn't do that with work. I have to stay. It takes so long. That's where the kings are who do the surgeries but it's not -- it's just not realistic right now. At least for me or for anyone because I think I've heard people say oh, yeah, I needed like four surgeries and then they're out there for time -- all that time. Christina: Yeah. I'm wanting to go and we're planning, if we can get that part of why I'm doing this, I'm doing a T-shirt fundraiser. I'm doing some other things and we're also building businesses. So we're planning to be self employed so that we can work from wherever and when you have a job and other people have children and you can't take two months to go there. And even though some people have done this and they've stayed two or three weeks and then used vacation time and come back or used FMLA leave and come back. But then when you look at airfare to go back and forth and back and forth, it's a lot. But there's ways we're looking at -- Stephanie: To live there. Yeah. Christina: So that's what we're planning to do but I am glad though that there are some doctors now that are looking at lipedema, that
are being more open to it. They just had the symposium in New York and so that's a good thing too. Have you heard anything about that? About anything that was talked about there? Stephanie: I watched a little bit of it online but not all of it so I haven't seen what all (inaudible) yet. I don't think I knew about that until everybody was going -- oh, it's online. I would have liked to have come to that or even the conference that was in DC, try to come to some of that stuff because I do know that this is the beginning of it all and we're in the beginning of it all. Christina: Yes, we are. Stephanie: It's sort of a movement. It's exciting. It's a movement I didn't know I would be a part of or a community of but you know, hey, it is what it is. You just get into it right away with meeting people, people like you that are trying to get the word out about it because I see women all the time that have it. I can diagnose people. It's not hard to diagnose. Christina: Yeah. It affects so many women and yet doctors are still saying, oh, you're just overweight, you're just overweight, you're just overweight. That's not always the case. Stephanie: That's not always the case and there was that video I think Catherine posted, it's like I don't eat that much. Even in my diet, I'm an only child and both my parents worked and I would eat not like the best -- I wouldn't eat vegetables really. I'm much better at it now. I'm greatly improved, but even still for the diet that I have it should be just like a regular person. Not too healthy, not too fattening. I can go hours without eating once I get into the groove of me working and so just sort of makes you wonder why am I like this? And it's good to have a reason. It's a relief to have the reason but the reason still sucks. I mean lipedema sucks. But I want to embrace it
because it is what it is. And you want to love your body. I don't necessarily want to love lipedema but -- Christina: I think all of us have struggled with that. Stephanie: Yeah, you want to love the skin you're in. It's sort of makes you have to love yourself. It's like when someone with their skin, it's like to make sure you keep it moisturized and keep it together and stuff. That'll force you to use coconut oil and all the virgin oils, like all the high end stuff even though it's not all that high end. It makes you be focused on your health. Christina: Have you changed anything like you -- have you changed your diet? I'm doing gluten free and some others are doing gluten free, grain free, sugar free. Have you changed your diet? Have you changed any of your health care in that way? Stephanie: No. The only thing -- and I'm working on. Christina: We're always working on it. Stephanie: Better -- Yeah, I think I would benefit from an accountability with that. The nutritionist that I started seeing at this doctor's office they're really all about natural health. I mean the dietitian there wouldn't even look at a Hershey bar or whatever. I mean they are just hard core, natural people. So I'm hoping like an accountability with her. Also talking -- I was trying to find some type of accountability. I tried Herbalife because I know a part of the RAD diet is like the diet -- I know you know what it is but the diet that Dr. Herbst developed for people with lipedema that seems to work the best. Protein shakes are suggested and I heard someone say like a whole day of fasting or on the shakes would be best. So I tried Herbalife and
stuff like that but nothing -- I haven't found a system yet that I've been able to really stick with. And I don't know what's up with that. I need some type of mental shake to get me to switch it over. Now I will say if I do see gluten free options, if a restaurant does have a gluten free menu I will pick off of that but if I'm hungry and we're someplace and this is just what they have I'll eat it. Like that. So sort of like if it's available I'll buy it. I'm sort of halfway with it. Like I'll eat the gluten free bread. But I don't even know if that's necessary to eat because so much emphasis is put on like don't eat that stuff either. I'm trying to get better with the sugar free stuff. I'm addicted. I have such a sweet tooth. And I've always been like that. I'm a complete candy head. But the short answer is no, I have not really changed my diet. But I want to. I really want to. And I need -- and I really need to get serious about that because this is like health. It's like past trying to wear a pair of Daisy Dukes out on -- walking down the street. You know what I mean? It would be nice but it's much better than -- yeah, it's about your health. Christina: Yeah. So many people are focused on that number and that was what was freeing to me once I got a name for this was -- and it took some time. It wasn't an overnight thing, but to get the focus off of what was on the scale and more on how do I feel? How healthy am I? What does my blood work say? Because I already know that I'm not -- it's hard to describe it but my outside weight does not reflect who I am inside. And so if everything that I was doing to lose weight, to get to a particular number, I would have been there if my body worked the way an average person's body works. And our bodies just don't work that way. And so we have to give ourselves some grace on that. Stephanie: It's true. And you know it's like even I joined Weight Watchers and it was nice to have -- the current Weight Watchers where you can have a coach because I hated the classed I'd done in the past and that was so -- I know it's helpful for some people but for
me the class I was going to, it was just a complete clown show. But I'm like, when I talked to them they are focusing on you can eat anything but now that you've said that, I'm wondering if this is good for me to still continue on with the coaching because their philosophy is so much different than from what I need. But I do appreciate the accountability. Maybe that's something I could start, like talking to each other twice a week or such. Because it's a hard thing because lipedema and stuff like that, it does start to switch your health. You can just be going along, you're fine, you have your friends, you have family. You have all these things that society deems as being normal but then even your weight is not necessarily a problem but it might be for you. And like your health. And it's hard to make that switch. Now it's like, oh, my God, you'd better switch what you're doing because if you don't you're just going to blow up and be so heavy and circulation problems and it's like it just happens overnight and you're like, oh, shit. Now I need to fix this. But it's overwhelming and it's like -- if there was ways to go through that and talk that out and find solutions in a partner program in something like Weight Watchers but like a support group, an in person support group. That's what I think would be great. Even these groups, even with the conference and the symposium, we only see you guys like maybe once, twice a year and then people in different states across the country, they try to have meet ups and even then they still take a long time to plan because you're trying to accommodate everyone. and it just gets hard. I've tried to set up an accountability. Maybe I should just take it more seriously, like, yes, we will talk on Tuesday night, on Skype or Facetime on the phone, whatever, and just talk it out. Christina: That's a good idea. Stephanie: I would like that. I love meetings. I love accountability groups.
Christina: Maybe instead of like a Weight Watchers coach maybe just a general health and wellness, somebody that goes along with your goals. Stephanie: But at the Weight Watchers pricing -- like a huge corporation. They have individual but then the price point's higher because. Of course they have to run a business. I get it. I completely get it. Christina: Well, I've thought about doing some Google Hangouts so maybe that could be something to do. That -- another project. I need another project. Stephanie: I know, right. I would do those with you though, if you want to like help because I really do think that face to face interaction, something that's more than just typing. Because even like in the Facebook groups I've thought about -- I would love to share this experience but I don't feel like sitting down at the computer typing. But what I will do -- and I haven't done it but maybe I can make this video and upload it in there. I mean people can type to me that way and I can talk to them. Maybe I'll do that. But you know what else is funny too is like we could talk about this because you're my lipedema sister but you sort of get brought into becoming a voice for lipedema and I don't know if that's something you automatically do, you become an authority figure because it's like so new. Like people want answers and you've known answers longer so you start to like want to share this information. And so I'm down for doing that but again do I want to become a face for lipedema? Nobody knows I have lipedema. Only people that I talk to, people that will hear this will hear it. I'm obviously not scared or ashamed to say it but maybe I am because you just don't want to admit that. I remember a girl posting like, oh, I found another girl with lipedema and she's like me, and she tagged my name in it. I'm like, ah, oh, my
God. I didn't want anybody to know that. Not on my page. Christina: All of us, we've all got our own comfort zones. There's some ladies that are showing their pictures and doing the videos and some that are not. I'm actually going to do some pictures for June. I'm going to share some picture so that -- Stephanie: Awesome. Christina: So that's going to be a big step for me because I haven't shown pictures of my legs in I don't know how many years. Stephanie: You're going to show them publicly? Christina: Yes, I am. They're going on my blog. Stephanie: That's fantastic. Christina: I'm going to do it. I'm working up the courage to do it. I haven't done it yet but it's going to go up there. I always ask people -- I've been asking people what was the good thing that has come out of this because I believe there's always something good in everything. And I've always said it's being able to meet -- for one thing, getting a name for this. And to be able to meet so many talented and wonderful women that do so many different things. There's not just the jobs that everyone does, but everyone is so articulate and smart and wonderful and I just wish so many people would get out of the -- away from the outside and really to get to meet people. And that's why I want to do the stuff that I'm doing. So you do have anything good that has come of this? Stephanie: You know, I do. I think it's really great to meet other women just like, just exactly like you've said. Across the country that
are also like caring and they want to see you succeed. You want to see them succeed and they're sharing information with each other. We know so much about each other that no one else knows. I know so much about them that maybe their closest girlfriend might not know. So you have this automatic bond with them and you just create genuine friendships. And genuine friendships are -- you just can't pay for them and it's nice to have that sort of network of people you can just stay completely transparent about. So it's like yeah, I just talk to you about whatever you can still get it because you already have the medical condition that we both share. Christina: Okay, great. And something came to me and it went away. I just thought of something else and it went away. I don't like that when that happens. Stephanie: You know what though? I do think the documentation part of it is interesting, that people are willing to do it. Because it's so individual. Christina: It is. Stephanie: And it's almost sort of needed at this point. Tomorrow I'm going to see the queen of lipedema, Dr. Herbst, and I've never traveled to go see a doctor, to get an opinion. I've seen -- there are thankfully in Chicago there are Dr. Gamble who retired, there's Dr. Feldman who's just a little bit different. He told me not to work out at all because it wouldn't be beneficial and I was like well that's dumb. I should work out. I need to still be healthy. But that documentation of all of this is necessary. I pretty much started a little blog but I haven't' really -- I only have two entries. I put a you tube video up there and I posted a meme or whatever. But we'll see how it goes and if I'll keep it up. because again it's like I'm not the person I was. I mean I don't announce it at all. But I mean I guess if you stumble upon it I'm cool with that. Christina: Is that what your going to Dr. Herbst for, is to have an
actual, verified documentation of it? Stephanie: I think I'm going to Dr. Herbst because the other doctor here I don't -- it's just like whatever on and because Dr. Herbst has like the plan and is meeting with other people and because she is -- she's done the most research, I want her to look at me and just see what she thinks. And then I have all of my garments that I'm going to show her. I have a list of my -- some blood work and some vitamins I'm going to show her as well as most of what I have packed. I have a skirt and all of this stuff to show her. Because you just want to have an official diagnosis and because from her I feel like I could have a solid plan. She is just done the most research, you know. Christina: Yeah, that makes a lot -- that makes sense. And she can give you that official diagnosis and help you with that plan. Stephanie: And see what it is, obviously I would love for her to say the liposuction would be great. Maybe she won't say it. I don't know. I think it's just the idea to have a solid plan for managing this and then on top of that attacking just like trying to better my health overall. I feel that starting that project that little blog with the two entries, is just like, all right, lets just see where this goes. And on top of that me being an artist and needing some type of click, I'm wondering if me approaching this in some sort of a project type of idea if it will help me focus on me getting my life together. Christina: What -- is now, we've known about this now -- we've both known about lipedema and that we have it now for about three to four years and there's new ladies now that are just joining the group, the Facebook groups that we're in that are just now finding out about this. What would you want them to know about lipedema, about this diagnosis? Stephanie: Well, what would I want them to know? I would want them to know that they know they have lipedema, that they need to
now throw all those vanity goals out the window they need to start focusing on their health as being the priority and self love because it's all that whole, I want to look like Giselle or I want to have legs like this or I want to be a size this - that is no longer. Because those -- having goals like that are only going to disappoint you. Because it's just -- there's nothing to be measured. Right now the only thing I can really measure is how well you're taking care of yourself. And that's really what you need to focus on and loving the body that you're in and taking care of that body that you're in. And I say that because people think of I want to lose weight and the first thing people go to is want to lose weight is for vanity reasons more so than I want to get my blood pressure down. Unless the doctor really says something about blood pressure. And on top of that I will say that it's going to be frustrating but you -- the good thing about that is you now have a network of women and a drop or two of men but mostly women -- that are here for you and they want to see you succeed and they want you to look good and feel good. So you can be -- rest easy knowing that you will have a support system of women that have been through it as well and also are going through it currently with you. Because it is a -- it's frustrating. It's frustrating but it could be a hell of a lot worse. I mean it could be a support group for insert any of the other terrible diseases out there where people are losing their lives. And this is nothing in comparison to that and that's why sometimes it's difficult because it's like am I really complaining about big legs? Christina: Yeah, but it's a psychological thing too. Stephanie: Yeah, it's a whole psychological thing. But I will say that they need to immediately find a doctor that can give them a diagnosis that they can get on a treatment plan and learn to write insurance letters. Christina: What do you hope for this future --
Stephanie: That might be coming up. Christina: Yeah. It is. It's already coming up with a lot of the ladies. What do you hope for the future for lipedema? There's a lot of research now that's starting and there are some European doctors that are starting some research. what would you like the future to bring? Stephanie: I would like the future to bring education, to -- I would like the future to bring education to medical specialists, for them to understand what lipedema is, how to diagnose it and how to offer treatment, how to suggest treatment. That is going to be the best way is for people to get educated in it so they can help people that need it. So that when somebody comes in for a physical exam they can say, have you ever thought about this? They know how to ask the questions. They know what to do and give their patients a plan. Nurses too. I have a girlfriend that just graduated from nursing school and I was like, you know what she needs to get specialized in? Lipedema. It's sort of a good business move too because there's not a lot of people that know about it. Christina: I told the same thing to a friend of mine that went to a massage school to learn how to do the MLD. yeah, absolutely we're trying to get -- to let everybody we can know about this because it's now well known and there's still a lot of bias against people who seem to be overweight. Stephanie: Yeah. Just again knowing the whole bias thing, I mean instead of just talking to people and saying, oh, you're overweight, just leaving it at that. Just being educated. Like it goes on so much more further than lipedema. I mean see the way people at the gym playing basketball. Big people. So it's like well, obviously. I mean there's something else going on there and they should just be -- we shouldn't just have to -- doctors shouldn't have -- like to how I can go
to a doctor who's also interested in natural health and they know how to run tests about copper and lepitin levels and all of that. The same doctor I shouldn't have to go to the natural doctor that my vegan yogi neighbor suggested. I shouldn't have to go to anybody -- I should be able to go to Northwestern Hospital in the internal medicine department and they should say, hey, you know what? They should know those things as well. And even if that's not their full practice they could take a look and say, oh, something's not right here. I'm going to refer you to the natural doctor who specializes in this or to the acupuncturist who specializes in this. Take these results with you and sit with them because this doesn't read right, however that's as far as I can. I know they'll be able to read all of this and give you a treatment. Christina: I would like doctors to be able to just -- they should be able -- when you're examining someone and they're very small on top and yet their legs are very large and swollen looking, the doctor should be able to say right there, something is wrong and even if they say, I don't know what it is, that should be obvious. It should be an obvious clue that something is wrong. But so many doctors just don't say anything at all. And I just think that's my opinion. That it should be very obvious. Stephanie: Yeah. I agree. And once they say, hey something is wrong, go talk to Dr. such and such. Christina: That would be nice. In a perfect world. Stephanie: Yeah. Christina: Well, this has gone longer than the half and hour so I'm going to let you go and get ready for your trip. You were very helpful, thank you very much. Would you like to share your You Tube channel or your blog address if anyone is interested in seeing your videos?
Stephanie: Oh, yeah. You can check out my work at missgraham.com. Christina: And are there links there to your You Tube and everything? Stephanie: Yeah, they're all there. They're all there to see. The So This One Guy project is there and other stuff that I'm doing too. Christina: Okay, great. All right. Stephanie: Thanks for doing this project. Thanks for doing these interviews. It's fantastic. I'm excited and I'm excited to be a part of the lipedema community. Christina: I hope you enjoyed this interview. You can let me know by commenting and sharing this post. You can find out more information about lipedema from Lipese.com and BigFatLegs.com. A transcript of the interview will also be posted below. The next lipedema sister interview will be posted next Thursday. You can also find me on Facebook at Creative Life Enterprises and on Twitter @ChristinaRouton. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you again next week.