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Aurora McCausland, a 30-year-old mom of 2, says her doctor recommended liposuction for lipedema, a condition which has caused fat to accumulate in her lower bodyHowever, she claims she was denied coverage for the surgery because they said she doesn’t “feel tenderness” in the affected areasHer insurance company, Cigna Healthcare, said in a statement, “Based on the information submitted by her doctor, she did not meet the clinical criteria for liposuction at that time”; McCausland now has a new insurance company and is trying to get the surgery approved

A mom of two with a painful disorder that causes fat accumulation in her legs says she’s been denied surgical treatment — claiming she was told it’s not “medically necessary” and that she didn’t feel tenderness in the affected areas.

Aurora McCausland, a popular influencer from West Valley City, Utah, who’s known for her DIY home projects, went viral with a video explaining that her insurance company at the time, Cigna Heathcare, denied her recommended surgery for lipedema, which she says she was diagnosed with the prior year.

As the Cleveland Clinic explains, it’s a chronic condition marked by “abnormal fat buildup on both sides of your lower body, usually in your legs.” It doesn’t respond to diet and exercise, and “cause pain and make daily activities difficult.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Cigna for comment, which shared the same comment they provided to NBC News for a recent report on McCausland: “Lipedema is a painful condition that disproportionately impacts women, and we cover a range of treatment options, including liposuction, for patients that meet evidence-based clinical criteria. Ms. McCausland’s case was carefully reviewed by multiple doctors, including a plastic surgeon with expertise in lipedema. Based on the information submitted by her doctor, she did not meet the clinical criteria for liposuction at that time.”

Aurora McCausland says she was denied surgery for lipedema.

Courtesy of Aurora McCausland 

In McCausland’s case, the 30-year-old is impacted in the lower half of her body, specifically her lower legs and ankles. When other treatments failed to help, her doctor recommended liposuction. The procedure would cost $35,000, but McCausland said she was denied coverage — twice.

McCausland claimed she was told that she met all the medical criteria, except that she did “not feel tenderness in my affected joints, and that they can tell that there’s no fat accumulation in those spots. First of all, I asked them, how can whoever is reviewing my appeal tell what the inside of my body feels like? How can they see that I don’t feel tenderness?” she said in her viral video. “How can they look at my swollen ankles and be able to tell by looking that there is no tenderness?”

She also shared her belief that she was denied because she’s “genetically thin,” and appears slender online. “You’re looking at me and thinking, ‘Diseased fat where?’ ” because the top half of her body isn’t impacted by lipedema. 

Cigna told PEOPLE the same comment they shared with NBC regarding McCausland’s social media presence: “Our coverage decisions are based on the clinical information submitted by a patient’s treating physician in accordance with coverage policies and the patient’s plan design.”

As she explained to NBC News, her condition also causes brain fog, fatigue and she can struggle to go up a single flight of stairs. “It’s definitely gotten much worse the older I’ve gotten,” she said. “Things that I feel like I should be able to do cause pain pretty quickly, and then I kind of have to tap out. Getting down to play with my kids is really hard.”

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Her doctor, Dr. David Smart, told NBC, “Really, only surgery helps to reverse the disease process.” And while McCausland is in the earliest stages of the disease, Dr. Smart says “you can have a stage 1 patent that has very severe and crippling symptoms of pain and swelling.”

Smart continued, sharing that her insurance company is “not looking at the severity of her symptoms. They’re not looking at the severity of her pain, the decrease in mobility, her lack of ability to be able to perform those daily activities of living.”

McCausland has since switched to a new insurance company and has begun the process to get the surgery approved, but tells NBC, “It’s ridiculous that we live in a country that, we have healthcare available to us, but it’s so inaccessible, that none of us can afford what we need.”