In May 2022, Lidwine Dacier-Falque’s lipoedema was diagnosed. A rare disease not recognized in France. To heal and undergo necessary surgical operations, this young Toulouse girl is launching a solidarity kitty. Testimony
Lidwine Dacier-Falque is a young woman like any other. “Well almost,” she corrects. Since the age of 15, this Toulouse adopted suffers from lipoedema, a rare and progressive disease that affects one in ten women.
“This hereditary pathology which often occurs in adolescence with a body which “explodes” and increases tenfold during hormonal changes, extreme heat or even excess weight”, details the young woman whose disease has only been diagnosed. only in May 2022
Insidiously, it coats the lower limbs (thighs, calves, knees, ankles) and sometimes the upper limbs (arms), with a deposit of fatty tissue under the skin, causing a disproportionate and progressive increase in the volume of these limbs. A dismorphism between the top (often thin bust) and the bottom of the body (important) then appears. One of the first warning signs. Not recognized in France, lipoedema is therefore not covered. Very few specialists treat this disease, which is often associated with an aesthetic problem. Hence the great difficulty of getting treatment and surgery.
Hot weather, weight gain or lifting loads aggravate the problem. However, Lidwine works as an educator of young children in an associative crèche: “I carry children all day. It’s my job and I love it.”
painful lumps of fat
These clumps of fat, which affect the nerve endings, are also very painful. And cause bruises at the slightest shock.
After losing 14 kilos following a diet and intensive sport (6 days a week), Lidwine, thanks to a friend and his financial support, was able to undergo in June 2022, a first surgery in Belgium where six liters of edema were drained from her thighs: “Obviously I was very happy to do this procedure, but it is not enough. Several are necessary to obtain a definitive result and to remove the remaining clusters: present under the flesh, they continue to develop”. Hence the creation of a financial support kitty, called “The first day of the rest of my life”, which expresses all of Lidwine’s hopes.
This very courageous young woman tells her story to advance the situation of all those affected by this pathology: “The pain is both physical and psychological. With people’s often malevolent gaze, mockery and very inappropriate comments, especially in clothing stores where I am made to understand that there is nothing for me. But I don’t give up, ”she says determined.