School raises £3000 for Liverpudlian lipoedema sufferer's massage suit
11% of women have the condition
A Teaching Assistant from Liverpool is in pain 24 hours a day as she's living with lipoedema.
52-year-old Beverley Lowson had a major trauma in her life five years ago and needs to control the condition or she says she'll end up in a wheelchair.
We've been speaking to her about what it's like to live with lipoedema:
"I've had the condition since I was born, it only came to light five years to go.
"I've got the condition in my legs and hips.
"It's hard, your life changes.
"Your life changes"
"You go from being active, loving high heels and loving short skirts to not being able to get shoes on your feet and having to wear flip-flops in the Summer.
"I look at myself some days in the mirror and I don't recognise myself.
"My mum and dad were watching This Morning and there was a lady on, and my mum messaged me and said "there's someone on television with your legs.
"I went to my GP, but they said "I don't know what that is, there's no such thing"
"Eventually, I managed to get to see a surgeon at a hospital
"As soon as I walked through that door, they knew exactly what it was.
"They gave me compression garments but you're only allowed one pair a year.
"I will end up in a wheelchair"
"I left the hospital feeling disheartened.
"My legs were getting bigger, they swell, they're heavy all the time and as the day goes on they get worse.
"You're in pain 24 hours a day.
"Fortunately for me, I found a clinic with a full body suit and they said I could use it for free.
"It's fantastic, it's a massage suit, you climb into it, it makes the pain a little better.
"The hospital only had a boot and wouldn't let me use it without being admitted.
"I left the hospital feeling disheartened and the children and staff (at school) saw what I was like, they put on a fundraiser to raise £3000 for the suit.
"I managed to buy the suit, I'm one of the lucky ones.
"Every day is a fight to get out of bed.
"It's not cosmetic, it's one of the hardest diseases you can have.
"I need liposuction, we all do and if i don't control this disease I will end up in a wheelchair.
"There are days and nights where you don't want to get out of bed. "