Sarah Buller is a former model from Australia and a mother of two beautiful children. Though she was initially famous for her career, she’s now setting trends more for being the latter.
During Buller’s first pregnancy, she had mentally readied herself for the bevy of side effects that would come with being pregnant. She hadn’t, however, expected that perpetual leg swelling would be one of those effects.
In the first trimester, Buller noticed that there was minor swelling in her left groin, but chose to ignore it because everything else was progressing as expected.
Over the next few weeks, however, the swelling progressed until her entire leg had ballooned up – and wouldn’t deflate.
Buller recounted her experience on her blog, The Lymphosaurusrex, “After a few visits to the ER, blood tests, doctors' assessments, and ultrasound scans, the doctors were still unsure what was causing my swelling and basically told me it was just a weird thing that would go away after I gave birth.”
Her leg never returned to being normal.
After Buller gave birth to her daughter, Buller returned to the doctor with fresh determination to receive a proper diagnosis.
She was suffering from lymphedema, a hereditary condition that blocks the lymphatic system and causes limbs to swell. There is currently no treatment for this disease; patients must simply learn how to live with their condition in their day-to-day lives.
Buller does everything from wear compression garments and get her leg manually drained; to elevate her leg everywhere she goes, take supplements, and exercise.
Although she is fortunate enough to access many of these treatment methods, Buller became depressed and felt extremely alone. That was when she decided to reach out online and find others who were also suffering from this condition.
Finding this community was what Buller needed to get her life back in order. After interacting with others who were living with the same condition as her, Buller decided to create an Instagram to document her struggles, act as support for others who feel as alone as she did in the past, and raise awareness for this condition.
She is currently recovering from a Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer and is hopeful for continued, improved treatments that will help her manage her condition in the future.
