"I am the storm."

Feb 26, 2023 by Christin Bauer

Fate whispers to the warrior:
"You cannot withstand the storm."
The warrior whispers back, “I am the storm”.

Why actually fighters?

When I first heard the term lipoedema fighter, I thought it was terrible. I associated fighting with resistance, with effort, with visibility, with being loud . Most of it with effort. An effort for which there was absolutely no place in my life. Why fight when I couldn't change anything? Why fight when there is no cure for lipedema? Why fight when I was doomed to live in flat knit tights or alternatively go under the knife for big bucks?

So I surrendered to my fate that softly whispered in my ear that I could not withstand the storm. Better lay flat on the ground and let the storm pass over me . Except that lipoedema is that kind of storm that doesn't blow away but lasts. Ultimately, it was a friend who is also part of the lipedema community who reached out to me and asked me to finally take care of myself and stop ignoring the topic of lipedema.

So I asked myself, "Can I be a lipedema fighter?"

I thought back to my childhood heroine - Sailor Moon. Firstly, she also wore long gloves after the transformation, just like a flat knitting hero:in and secondly, what I had always admired about her was that she described herself as a fighter FOR love and justice .

So maybe I could be a fighter after all, just not, as I always thought, in the fight AGAINST my body and lipoedema, but in the fight FOR my health, the greatest possible freedom from symptoms and as a role model for others. And then I heard fate again, whispering in my ear again, "You can't withstand the storm." And deep down I knew I could take him on. That I would finally go to the doctor again, wear my compression garments, that I would try whether lymphatic drainage could help me and that I would finally connect with the community of fighters.

So I straightened up to my full height, looked fate in the eye and said, "I am the storm."

Will you face the storm with me? Click here for the common fighter uniform: "I am the Storm" collection