After banning her family and friends from talking about lymphedema, Meagan Barnard was left feeling su!c!^dal and alone. For more than a decade the 24 year old hid her leg under baggy clothes and refused to wear a dress or a skirt. She was even called Michelin Man and other cruel nicknames by her school friends. For 2 years she was able to hide about her condition to her 27 year old boyfriend Robert Neidenfeuhr. She said, ‘If Rob and I were sitting next to each other watching a movie there would be a big, thick blanket between us so he couldn’t feel how hard my leg was.We had been together for two years when I went public and he had no idea.’ Even when the couple was at their most intimate, he claims that he never noticed her $wo^llen leg. Her boyfriend said, ‘She was extremely careful but I really didn’t notice, there were lots of closed doors, lots of lights off – that kind of thing.’ Meagan as decided to go public about the condition despite her insecurities. She hopes that other young girls do not suffer in silence like she did. She added, ‘I really don’t know how I’ve hidden this for so long. I guess I don’t want other young girls to have to go through what I did. At the time I would rather have not been alive than have lymphedema. After opening up, it’s just taken this weight off my shoulders and I feel so much happier. I was extremely depressed I would come home from school every day, cry and ask why me – it felt like my life was over at 15. At my lowest point I had written a $u!c^!de letter to my dad – I told him I was done and I was just going to end it.