Hello, there, lumpy lady
I came across this humorous article about a very unfunny subject: lymphoedema.
Dr Emma Jane is Senior Lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow. She's written a Q&A on lymphoedema that can be shared with family and friends to help them understand this little talked about condition.
Fact: Since January, everyone in the entire universe has been pointing and jeering at the humungous lump in my groinal region.
"What a freak!" they scream at me from across the street. "She must have elephantiasis of the lady parts! Chuck her in a mid-16th century circus cage at once!"
OK, so maybe that's not a fact so much as a complete fabrication. But it is an accurate portrayal of how I feel right now, which is abjectly miserable, self-conscious, and socially dysmorphic.
Read the whole story: I have lymphoedema, but here's why most people won't know what I'm talking about.
For those of you affected by lymphoedema, how do you talk to family and friends about it?