I was unable to take my daughter on days out , due to difficulties with driving and walking , with the amount of weight on my joints .
My motivation in life is to spend time with my daughter , exploring places and walking , which has been prevented by having lipoedema and the progression over the last eight months . This has felt frightening and I was adamant I did not want to end up in a wheelchair .
I felt concern about my future career , so I looked through the HCPC ’ s health and disability guidelines to check if I would still be able to fulfil my role as an occupational therapist . The guidelines tell you how and when to inform them of a healthcare condition and / or disability .
When registering with HCPC , it asks for health conditions and / or disabilities to be disclosed to save delays in processing applications ; however , if your condition and / or disability do not affect your ability to provide safe practice then you may or may not wish to disclose it .
HCPC also specifies that fitness to practise is your own responsibility as a professional , therefore you can update HCPC of any change to your condition at any point during your career , if you deem it necessary .
Therefore , I am still able to pursue my registration and career as an occupational therapist while living with lipoedema . I will ensure I refer to the occupational health team if I require any reasonable adjustments .
Help and support
I also found the charity Lipoedema UK , which runs a weekly online support group . This saved my life .
The group welcomed me to the session , and I have been attending ever since . Some sessions were hard , because I felt so overwhelmed and mentally exhausted from my 13-year journey of dieting , but the group is understanding and supportive .
I also felt concerned about my future career and how my condition would impact my working , but having found a wealth of the information ( see box ) and gained support from the right people , I now understand that I am still able to fulfil my dream career as an occupational therapist while managing my condition and treatment of lipoedema .
Useful resources
HCPC ’ s fitness to practise advice can be found at https :// bit . ly / 3MqJNiu .
Left and below : Trying on boots which clearly won ’ t fit and preparing for swimming whilst being in agony
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National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( 2022 ) Liposuction for chronic lipoedema . Interventional procedures guidance [ IPG721 ]. Available online :
www . nice . org . uk / guidance / ipg721 [ accessed 6 June 2022 ]
June 2022 OTnews 27