Jameka Mauldin kept gaining weight, and doctors had just one answer: eat less and move more.
She did. But her legs kept growing. “”It wasn’t just fat. It felt different. It was heavy, tight, painful””, says this 35-year-old American single mother. She came to weigh 323 kilos and depend on other people to get out of bed or go to the bathroom. That was when she ended up in a nursing home, her lowest point.
In 2019, what she was experiencing finally had a name: lymphedema, which causes lymphatic fluid buildup and painful swelling, and lipedema, a fat-distribution disorder that cannot be reversed with diet or exercise. Both are progressive and incurable and, according to Jameka, are often ignored, especially in Black women.
Today, she has lost more than 158 kilos through lifestyle changes, physical therapy, and targeted liposuction to remove damaged lymphatic tissue. She walks without assistance and has returned to work, this time as a certified nursing assistant. She went from being cared for to caring for others. And her daughter Jamya, 15, was by her side the whole time.
