What Lumpy Louise Means to Me

If you are reading this and do not know who or what Lumpy Louise is, please see her site here:

Click picture to go to Lumpy Louise's website

Lumpy Louise was created by me just about a week ago but, honestly, she has been a part of me for a while now. I use her to tell the story of my life with Dercum's in a way that people seem to gravitate to.  Come on, who amongst us does not like a good chuckle now and then? Plus the fact that I am gearing that laughter at myself is priceless.  I've always made quite the clown and enjoy doing so.

Louise showing us her guns

However, she and I don't just share a disease, Louise just happens to be my middle name.  I didn't like that name very much growing up, it was such an old fashioned name. My sisters middle names both came from my mom, Anne (being my mom's first name)  and Marie (mom's middle name) but I did not know where Louise came from and it seemed like just another cruel joke played on me.  That joke was fueled one Thanksgiving when my aunt and uncle decided to tell me that I was named after Crazy Aunt Louise.  They made up some lovely stories about her, such as on Sundays she would put on 7 dresses and take one off every day of the week and then start all over again.  Well, that was just another Thanksgiving that I ended up in my room refusing to talk to anyone.

Then one day, while watching General Hospital sometime in the early 80's (think Luke and Laura time) a teenaged character named Lou came on. Not that she was a great role model or anything (I think she might have been a drug addict) but I thought Lou was the coolest name ever. I tried my darnedest to change my name to Louise at that point but sadly, as most of my endeavors in life, it never took.

So, Lumpy Louise serves two purposes for me. She keeps alive my hope of 30 years to have people refer to me as Lou and she lets me use my humor to tell people what it is like to live with a debilitating disease.

Louise and I very much hope that she does spread awareness and thank you very much for your continued support.