Off The Record
A Woman On Rare Condition That Causes Extreme Swelling in Her Right Leg
After a rare ailment caused her leg to expand in size, the aspiring model revealed her leg for the first time in ten years.
Meagan Barnard’s lymphedema left her feeling isolated and suicidal after she forbade her friends and family from discussing it.
The 24-year-old’s school friends called her the Michelin Man and other derogatory terms, so she covered her leg with loose clothing and refused to wear a dress or skirt for over ten years.
Remarkably, Meagan even succeeded in concealing the illness from her 27-year-old boyfriend of two years, Robert Neidenfeuhr.
Meagan stated: “If Rob and I were sitting next to each other watching a movie there would be a big, thick blanket between us so he couldn’t feel how hard my leg was.
“We had been together for two years when I went public and he had no idea.”
Even during their most intimate moments together, he says he was blind to her swollen leg.
Robert continued: “She was extremely careful but I really didn’t notice, there were lots of closed doors, lots of lights off – that kind of thing.”
Meagan has chosen to disclose her illness in public despite her fears, hoping that other young girls won’t have to suffer in silence like she did.
Meagan, a US resident from Minneapolis, stated: “I really don’t know how I’ve hidden this for so long.
“I guess I don’t want other young girls to have to go through what I did.
“At the time I would rather have not been alive than have lymphedema.
“After opening up, it’s just taken this weight off my shoulders and I feel so much happier.
“I was extremely depressed I would come home from school every day, cry and ask why me – it felt like my life was over at 15.
“At my lowest point I had written a suicide letter to my dad – I told him I was done and I was just going to end it.”
Meagan’s illness started during adolescence when her lymph nodes failed to enlarge enough to handle the fluid that became stuck in her leg.
Her right leg experienced severe edema as a result, storing up to three liters of extra fluid at any given time.
“I woke up one morning and my foot was slightly swollen,” Meagan said. “It wasn’t painful at the time and I didn’t think anything of it.
“I saw multiple doctors who said it may have happened during puberty because my lymph nodes didn’t grow or that I could have injured it in some other way – they had no idea what caused it.
“When I was finally told that I had incurable lymphedema it felt like my life had ended – that’s exactly how I took the news.”
Meagan’s temporary pain relief requires her to wear uncomfortable compression trousers for seventy minutes every day.
“All my joints ache constantly and normal day to day activities like walking and going to work are extremely painful,” Meagan said.
“I feel like I belong in a circus for ten years, but I’m learning to accept the circumstance.
“Along with the pants I have to use a manual compression pump whenever I can to get rid of the swelling.”
Meagan would be able to obtain long-term comfort from liposuction even if there is now no known solution for the illness.
Unfortunately, she has not been able to receive the necessary treatment since American health insurance companies view her ailment as cosmetic.
Her illness will worsen the longer she delays having the operation, so she has made the decision to pay for it herself with the support of her friends and family.
“I really enjoyed modeling for the pictures and would love to do more of that in the future,” Meagan said.
“But without the surgery I feel like many opportunities are not available to me – I just want t a chance to live a normal life with normal opportunities.”
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