When you look different from your peers, it’s easy to feel left out, judged, and less important. Mahogany Geter has lymphedema, which made her left leg swell up horribly. For years, the 23-year-old woman from Texas has been picked on and teased because of her condition.
She made a video to show how she felt about a question that hurt her.
“Why don’t you cut off your leg? “, she wrote in the caption, “it will look better.” Mahogany also says that she’s been called other mean things.
“It’s been so hard to rise above these mean people, but I have no other choice.”
People have always called Mahogany names, which has always made her feel bad about herself. But she got help from other people with lymphedema and especially from her family. Her mother, Timika Geter, helped her see how beautiful she is on the inside and out. “It means I can do my best to show other people how beautiful they are and help them accept themselves.”
But sometimes it gets too much. She “takes steps now to build herself up” when she feels down. But when she’s feeling down, she always talks to her mom because, as she says, “she’s like my therapist.”
Mahogany Geter is now used as an example to follow.
Lymphedema is when too much fluid builds up, most often in the limbs, because the lymphatic system is blocked. This problem doesn’t have a cure yet, and it could turn into lymphangiosarcoma. She was given this diagnosis soon after she was born. At its worst, the extra fluids can make her weigh up to 100 pounds (or 45.3 kg) more than she should. She had “never felt pretty” as a child.
She told a truthful story about her childhood: “I used to think God had cursed me.”
“I thought I was ugly and a freak of nature, and I cried alone a lot. Then I decided that this condition was given to me because I am emotionally strong and can deal with it.”
“Since then, I’ve learned to love and accept myself.”
Mahogany is getting physiotherapy right now to help her leg get better. She now spends more time drawing, listening to music, and making videos on TikTok or YouTube. But she sometimes has to deal with skin infections in the places where it gets bigger. “It is frustrating to deal with flare-ups because I just want to live my life more freely but feel like I can’t.”
She wants to buy a house for her mother. When she has more money, she wants to give back to the people who have helped her and bring more attention to lymphedema.