Hi friends!<\/p>\n

I’ve been a busy bee behind the scenes, getting ready to attend the Fat Disorders Resource Society Annual Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in Atlanta this weekend.\u00a0 I’m super excited after having attended last year in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

This conference is so important to the lipedema community.\u00a0 It’s the only time each year that lipedema patients gather to be part of an in person community with fellow patients, researchers, and medical professionals.\u00a0 We also have the opportunity to hear about the newest research on treatments and causes, and meet with vendors who provide services such as compression garments, pneumatic pumps, and so on to us.<\/p>\n

When I attended last year, I was absolutely blown away by how many ladies in the room walked like me, were built like me, and who had the same struggles as I do.\u00a0 This experience really validated the reality of lipedema as a disease, but also showed me what various stages of development can look like.\u00a0 While I walked in the room with a copy of Jeans on a Beach Day<\/a><\/strong><\/span> for all in attendance, I had no idea of the opportunity to help that stood before me.\u00a0 I was really inspired to serve more, fight more, and educate more to help prevent disease progression in as many ways as possible.\u00a0 And I have honored that promise this last year.\u00a0 I’ve spoken to numerous groups, blogged, wrote videos, published another book<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and completed design of footwear for lipedema ladies (moving to manufacturing now).\u00a0 I also have been active in the lipedema education group, sharing information to the researchers and back to the patients.\u00a0 It’s been a good year, and I can say FDRS was the catalyst for more of the passion that I’ve developed this last year.<\/p>\n