The Disease They Call FAT
a film by Catherine Seo
Film premiere at Lincoln Center, New York City, April 18, 2015
Support the Lipedema Project and
Come to the Documentary Premiere in NYC!
SUPPORTER
LEVEL
1 Premiere ticket
$150 Actual Ticket Cost
$50 dollar donation to the Friedman Center
PLUS
• Digital download kit
(digital kit includes a
film download, extra
lipedema resources,
& images to share)
$200
DONOR
LEVEL
2 Premiere tickets
$300 Actual Ticket Cost
$200 dollar donation to the Friedman Center
Supporter Level PLUS:
• Special DVD edition
of the Documentary
Premiere
• Listed as a donor
in the event program
$500
SPONSOR
LEVEL
10 Premiere tickets
$1500 Actual Ticket Cost
$3500 dollar donation to the Friedman Center
Donor Level PLUS:
• Listed as Official
Sponsor in program
and on event signage
• In-person thank you
with Catherine Seo
$5,000
PARTNERSHIP
SPONSOR
10 Premiere tickets
$1500 Actual Ticket Cost
$8500 dollar donation to the Friedman Center
Sponsor Level PLUS:
• Invitation to Participate
in Lipedema Project
Program Development
with Dr. Mark Smith
& Catherine Seo, MSBI
$10,000
All proceeds to go to The Friedman Center for Lymphedema Research and Treatment
About The Documentary:
After a lifetime of struggling with weight issues that suddenly accelerated during peri-menopause, Catherine underwent numerous surgeries to address problems caused by the increasing fat in her legs and arms. Because her Lipedema was undiagnosed and the potential risk for lymphedema unrecognized, she suffered multiple complications after surgery, including developing lymphedema in her legs. Catherine also experienced increasing pain in her legs that gradually became incapacitating and threatened her mobility. Her surgeon could not explain the worsening symptoms but attributed it to her weight and would not investigate other possible explanations. She knew it had to be more than that and that a solution must exist. She also knew that if an answer were to be found, she would have to find it.
Catherine researched all she could find, traveling across the country and to Europe and the UK, looking for the answers to her many questions, interviewing experts and patients as she went along. The film features doctors, surgeons, scientists, and researchers in the area of lymphology, endocrinology, and related specialties, as well as women who have struggled with the same physical problems she has. She discovered that her pain was not caused by obesity but was actually from a disease called Lipedema. Lipedema is a little known, under recognized, and frequently misdiagnosed fat disorder. There are an estimated 17 million other women in the USA that have lipedema and don’t know it, and many more globally. She learned about “Anti-Fat Bias” and began to understand why she and many other women had never received the care and help they needed. As the pieces came together, a bigger story emerged. The documentary, The Disease They Call FAT, is that story.
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A Collaborative Enterprise of the Friedman Center at Mount Sinai Beth Israel The Lipedema Project is a transmedia program providing education and raising awareness about all aspects of lipedema.
Lipedema is a disease involving abnormal fat deposition that can result in pain, immobility and lymphatic disturbances. With obesity reaching epidemic proportions and anti-fat bias prevalent in health care, it becomes critical that patients are correctly diagnosed and that resources are invested in understanding this disease and how it can be treated. The Friedman Center is committed to raising awareness, providing education, and funding research to identify treatment and a cure for lipedema.
Dr. Mark Smith
Mark L. Smith, MD, FACS
Director, The Friedman Center
Dr. Mark L. Smith is Chief of Plastic Surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Director of the Friedman Center for Lymphedema Research and Treatment. He is an expert in the field of cancer & lymphatic surgery and is double-fellowship trained in Microsurgery and Craniofacial Surgery.
He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As an international volunteer for the past 2 decades, he has performed reconstructive surgery and taught local surgeons in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central America and South America.
Dr. Mark Smith, Executive Producer
Catherine Seo
Catherine Seo, PhDc
Director, the Lipedema Project
Catherine Seo, PhDc is Director, the Lipedema Project, the Friedman Center for Lymphedema Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, the founder of Lipedema Simplified LLC, and the director and producer of the documentary The Disease They Call FAT.
Catherine is currently a Ph.D. candidate (PhDc) at Fielding Graduate University in Media Psychology. Her research is focused on empowering women who experience the distortions of body image as represented in the media applying self-compassion and other meditation techniques. The Disease They Call FAT is her first documentary, but definitely not her last.
Catherine Seo, Director & Producer
About The Friedman Center
The Friedman Center for Lymphedema Research and Treatment at The Center for Advanced Medicine at Northwell Health in New York was founded in 2013. Its focus has been on offering solutions for patients with lymphedema, a debilitating condition that occurs in many patients after cancer treatment.
The Friedman Center’s scope of care now includes treatment for lipedema, a condition that can also result in lymphedema. To that end, the Friedman Center has created the Lipedema Project, a comprehensive program to increase awareness and provide education, research and treatment for lipedema. The Friedman Center is proud to sponsor the lipedema documentary, The Disease They Call FAT, the 1st International Symposium on Lipedema, the Lipedema Think Tank, the Lipedema Solutions Forum for women with lipedema in April 2015 and this online CME eduring materials course for physicians.
