Lipedema, my liposuction - Part 1: Preparation

Hello my dears,

Today I would like to tell you about my liposuction. I have lipedema and I get questions about liposuction every day.

My clinic

I decided on the Hanseklinik Lübeck. As the name suggests, this is in Lübeck and about three hours away from my home. The following points were decisive for my decision:

Distance to home
How comfortable I feel in the clinic
How was I informed.

Half a year earlier, I had a preliminary talk in the clinic (for a fee). There everything was explained to me in detail, risks mentioned and pictures shown. Mr. Baumgartner was my attending doctor. I have to say that everyone in the clinic is really incredibly personable, both the doctors, the nurses, and the office staff. It was only on the way home that I became aware of the whole thing. My tears made their way, because I currently had three estimates for three operations in hand. So much money - so much hope - on just three pieces of paper.

The costs

I should now pay almost € 5000 per operation. Three operations were scheduled. It was worked from top to bottom. The inner and outer thighs as one operation, the front thighs and knees as a second operation, and the lower legs as the last. So we had to make a total of € 15000. About what? Pure chaos in my head.

Health insurance

I wrote a long letter to my health insurance company and asked them to cover the costs. I am insured with the AOK Brandenburg. Every insured person can informally ask his health insurance company to cover the costs. It felt like an eternity before the health insurance company answered. After all, you have three weeks to reply. An odyssey of rejections and contradictions followed. I became crumbly, despair spread inside me. The registers wouldn't pay, I could stand on my head. They didn't care at all and slowly I didn't care either. After despair came defiance. I could do it without their help, so I did some research.

Fundraising

I had already informed myself beforehand what an operation would cost and save on average. But that wasn't enough. So I went to my trusted bank and asked for a loan. Thank God this was granted to me. I had the money paid out and now I had a fat piggy bank. The foundations were in place, my courage sank for a moment - what does this step mean for me? A new life, pain-free, symptom-free - am I still me then? I watched videos on YouTube, read testimonials on the Internet, my nerves were actually no longer there. I cried, I sobbed, I bathed in self-pity ... why of all people am I being punished with such an illness? Why? It did not help. Grit your teeth, you have the money - now finally make your appointments for your new life! Said and done!

Appointments

It was quick, it was an August afternoon. I called the clinic and promptly got my first appointment for October. "Yes, thank you." I hung up and sat motionless on my chair. Have I really done that now? First I called all the important people and told them. For the preparations I still had to do a blood count and I was not allowed to take any blood thinning agents a week beforehand.

My family doctor

I attacked my family doctor with the whole pile of papers and information. I talked to him about everything that was necessary and got my blood count. I was glad that my doctor showed interest in the whole thing and supported me. Very important: I recommend everyone to have a detailed discussion with their trusted doctor. This can be very helpful in difficult times. Your doctor can also prescribe you preventative pain relievers. I had then Novalgin pain drops taken, these were my salvation. Arnika can also be provided as a preventive measure - I found applying it to the skin to be helpful and somewhat soothing.

Final preparations for liposuction

Wide sweatpants and wide shoes were important for my operation. I got this before. I packed my bag days in advance to be prepared for everything. In the last few days I had a mixture of anticipation, fear and panic in me. Completely clueless, because I didn't know what to expect. I agreed with my boss that I would be out for about 14 days. Here, too, I was treated very understandingly and had all the stars on my side.

Closing words

To everyone who intends to perform one or more operations: Plan carefully. Take your time choosing the clinic. Don't rush into anything! Please be aware that this is a major intrusion into your tissues. It hurts - it will hurt you - and it won't be pleasant either. No matter what you read, it will be a very individual experience for you. There are people who are in a good mood days afterwards and there are people who struggle for weeks to get back on their feet. None of this is wrong, but you don't know which group you belong to - so plan both beforehand. Otherwise you always assume the worst in order to be positively surprised.

That was the first part of my experience report about my liposuction on lipedema. How the operations went and how I fared follows in Part 2.

All the best