Wildheart Wanderings

Living with chronic pain and a condition like lipedema can make life feel like an impossible battle. I know, because this has been my story. For years, I didn't know what each day would bring, often spending about 22 hours a day in bed just trying to cope. I had given up almost all of what life once was, exhausted by a relentless cycle of trying to find healthcare professionals who actually care, late-night internet searches, and the discouraging feeling of not being believe

Lipedema affects about 1 in 10 women. When looking at common symptoms that change how we see our bodies, key signs include weight gain, pain, decreased mobility, and a change in body tissue. Often, usual dieting and exercise don't work in the ways we expect. Sudden weight gain without a change in lifestyle or food intake is common and goes unexplained, sometimes for decades. Still, these women eat less and less trying to win the battle they're in, which can lead to things lik

Five years ago I wrote about how the struggle of being the mom of a daughter whose lipedema future is unsure is often harder than the struggles of lipedema itself. To be honest, that struggle is still very real and I expect it will be until I leave this earth. My daughter is almost 12 now and as she's hitting all of those puberty milestones I'm waiting and watching. Hoping, praying. Since she was a tiny baby breastfeeding and taking probiotics, she's had a better start than

I have been working on something for the last year or so. It's something that will give me a trifecta of knowledge and certifications to be able to truly help the community that has my heart...those with lipedema, lymphedema, and connective tissue disorders like hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos. I've also used this training to help my husband heal and recover after cancer treatement and help my daughter become more flexible and strong for dance and lengthen her extensions. I h

For years, this was what I thought. Years of my life hoping. Years of my life dedicated to extreme exercise, extreme food restriction, extreme supplement intake, extreme everything. Years of thinking ahead to the next occasion and setting another goal of what I might weigh if I work hard enough. Years of believing that a few sizes smaller was THE goal. But I was wrong. When lipedema hit my life hard, though I didn't have a label for it at the time, I gained 50 pounds in thre