A Few Words ABout
Who I Am ?
I’m a fat, Black queer engineer originally from the SF Bay Area who was diagnosed with stage 3 Lipedema, a painful genetic fat disorder that can grow bodies very large and is resistant to diet and exercise, when I was 38 years old. I’d been misdiagnosed and ignored so much by my doctors that my Lipdema diagnosis lit a fire in my heart to become a fierce advocate for my own health. That work paid off later when I pushed to be evaluated for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and was officially diagnosed a year after I’d learned I had Lipedema. I did not know how much suffering anti-fat bias was responsible for until I learned that I’d been right about my body the whole time.
About My Work
What I do
By day, I’m an engineer. The rest of the time, I’m a fashionable storyteller, speaker, and Lipedema advocate. I create content either telling stories that teach, inspire, or give a spotlight to underrepresented folks. I also like to get dressed…
Why?
Why it matters
I needed to see me and hear my story a long time ago. It could’ve saved me a lot of tears and spared a few attempts on my own life. Its possible that 1 in 11 people assigned ‘female’ at birth and women were born with Lipedema and do not know it. They endure anti-fat bias while enduring the physical pain that Lipedema causes. Many doctors don’t know much about Lipedema and are taught to uphold the dehumanization of fat people until they lose weight in their medical schools, by insurance companies, and sometimes, even by the federal government so hospitals can maintain certain funding. Its time we shine a light on the truth, because everyone is harmed by anti-fat bias.
