A woman who assumed she was "curvy" had over 6.5 litres of nodule fluid drained from her legs after she discovered she had a rare condition - by watching YouTube videos.<br /><br />Alisa Vandercruyssen, 28, started to get bigger legs, arms and abdomen from aged 17 - despite living an active lifestyle.<br /><br />Despite multiple trips to the doctors, they assumed she had a weight issue and gave her pamphlets for diet and exercise. <br /><br />Alisa had a healthy diet, regularly exercised and even tried weight loss drugs but her limbs continued to grow and cause her pain.<br /><br />She thinks her condition has caused her to gain around 50lbs (3.5st).<br /><br />Alisa thought she might have the chronic condition lipoedema - an abnormal build-up of fat - after watching a YouTube video and was given her official diagnosis in Novemeber 2022.<br /><br />Doctors told Alisa she would need six surgeries to remove the lipoedema nodules - of which she's so far had one.<br /><br />Alisa, an aesthetician from Royal Oak, Michigan, US, said: "I'd always been active and pretty trim and then without any lifestyle changes I started to get bigger and bigger.<br /><br />"Then I was on Ozempic, the highest dose, for six months and I did not lose weight. It looks just like fat so you get diagnosed with obesity all the time.<br /><br />"I came across it on YouTube and brought it up to the doctor after watching a vlog about it. I questioned why I was relating to everything she was saying.<br /><br />"I realised I had to have six to seven surgeries and I've had one so far where they removed 6.5 litres of nodules from my upper thighs.<br /><br />"It's already made a difference in my energy and I feel better whilst I'm healing post op, it's crazy how much it affects your life."<br /><br />Prior to her diagnosis, Alisa's unknown condition left her in constant pain.<br /><br />She struggled with everyday activities, such as going to work and says she felt like she was "in a suit."<br /><br />Alisa said: "Before the diagnosis I thought I just had thicker legs and cellulite.<br /><br />"But it feels lumpy as it's nodules forming. It's like tumours forming under your skin.<br /><br />"All the places that were fatty felt like that.<br /><br />"It's harmful as it's a progressive disease. It's constantly growing.<br /><br />"Even normal everyday things are painful to do as you're sitting on the nodules.<br /><br />"It was a lot of pressure on my knees - I had so much bulk."<br /><br />Alisa maintained a healthy lifestyle and started to embrace her looks after seeing no changes before being diagnosed.<br /><br />She said: "I was constantly cutting.<br /><br />"I had a personal trainer and I looked at my before pictures and then looked at myself after six months and I looked worse.<br /><br />"I had a strict diet too and I still couldn't get a hold on this. <br /><br />"I was trying to cook lots of things. Lots of veggies, more protein than anything.<br /><br />"I had a low carb diet, went to weight watchers, and a crazy diet from my personal trainer. <br /><br />"I started to embrace it and thought 'I guess I'm this curvy girl, that's how I am going to be.'
