A woman "felt like a terrible mum" due to a rare condition which left her legs swelling up and meant she was unable to hold her son on her lap. Christine Murphy, 37, had thought she was just "shaped differently" until she was diagnosed with lipoedema in April 2022.
It causes a build-up of fat in the legs and arms – which caused Christine daily pain since she was 11 years old. Despite leading an active lifestyle, Christine struggled to lose weight from anywhere but her torso.
The condition left her tipping the scales at 25st 7lbs (360lbs) and wearing a size 18 on top and a size 20 trousers. After giving birth to her son, Andy, now five, her symptoms worsened, and she struggled to let him climb onto her lap as a baby – as it would leave her in agony.
