Please Help Anissa Kermode

Hi, my name is Jeff and I am raising funds for Anissa Kermode's medical expenses. She has a condition called Lipedema that is not covered by the Canadian Health Care system. As a career counsellor at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary in Cloverdale, she helps her students to make career choices and then guides them through their training and then on to employment. In the course of her career, she has had many accolades including the Prime Ministers award for teaching excellence and the Surrey Leader Leadership Teaching award among others.

I am a plumbing instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Anissa would visit my class several times a semester to make sure her students had what they needed. In the sixteen years I have known her she has always put the students first and has been a model educator. The strong partnership between the Surrey School District and KPU is built by people like Anissa that encourage and foster a career in trades for young people. Whether she is chairing a committee, organizing her school travel club, or bringing her students treats for Valentine's she has always been generous and kind. Anissa will need six to seven surgeries plus follow-up treatments, all to be performed in California. With travel expenses and medical bills, it will cost Anissa over $200,000.

With Anissa's bright and cheery disposition, I had no idea of the years of suffering and daily struggles she has experienced. She still has a mortgage on her home, and with both parents gone, she has no other financial support.

For many years Anissa's doctors told her she was obese. In December 2022, she was finally diagnosed by Dr. Karen Herbst in Los Angeles. Dr. Herbst reassured Anissa that she was not obese and that she had been misdiagnosed her entire life. Anissa was diagnosed with Lipedema, type 3 and 4, stage 3. Lipedema is a condition that is not widely recognized by the medical community. The exact cause is not known but there might be a genetic component involved. This disorder mainly affects women and is characterized by a build-up of fat tissue in the arms, legs and sometimes abdomen. It typically gets worse over time making diagnosis and treatment essential. Lipedema may cause pain, swelling, and bruising and may be accompanied by an unusual texture that can feel like rice or peas under the skin's surface. Unfortunately, Lipedema fat will not respond to exercise and diet.

Those like Anissa may work out regularly and practice healthy eating habits to experience normal weight loss, however, the painful Lipedema fat remains.

Anissa struggles with chronic lower back pain, discomfort, random swelling and inflammation. Often by midday, the debilitating pain begins and Anissa is unable to use her standing desk. The excess weight of her arms pulls on her neck and shoulders and the weight of her lower abdomen makes it difficult to move.

If this condition is allowed to continue unchecked, Anissa's quality of life will eventually force her to stop teaching. On May 3 this year Anissa will begin the first of her surgeries and is excited to start the process of reclaiming her life.

With your help, Anissa can have many pain-free, happy years ahead of her, although she will have to maintain and continue to control Lipedema for the rest of her life. We wish Anissa all the best in her journey to manage her Lipedema and improve the quality of her life. Please see the link below for more information about Anissa's condition. Please consider a donation today.

Thank you.

Jeff Doolan

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