Texas

I first got diagnosed with Scoliosis when I was 8 years old. Originally, my parents and I had noticed that my shoulders were slightly uneven while taking passport photos when I was 7. My dad kept telling me to relax one shoulder, but it felt crooked to me to have them even for the photo.  He brought up the issue at my next doctor’s appointment, and we were sent for an x-ray.

When I was diagnosed by the orthopedic surgeon, I was very surprised. And even MORE surprised when my physician prescribed a scoliosis brace. I thought that my curve was so mild that it would be a “watch and wait” thing, but as I learned, because of my age, I was considered to have a high risk of curve progression during adolescence.  I didn't think the brace would be something that defines me! While flooded with emotions when leaving the physician’s office, I noticed a poster for the Austin Chapter of Curvy Girls, and it had a picture of the Chapter Leader, Ella on it. It was so comforting to know there were other girls going through the same thing I was! I made it to the next CG meeting.

After being inspired by Ella, I started to wear my brace over my clothes and stopped trying to hide my scoliosis. I even gave a presentation to my whole school about bracing and my journey with scoliosis. About several months, my spine physician said that I was being so extroverted about bracing, that he wanted to feature me in the local news to promote a new, low-dose x-ray machine being used in Austin, the EOS. It was a chance for to share positive news about scoliosis and CG’s publicly.

I am so happy to be a Co-Leader and I am very excited to help lead the Austin Chapter. Sometimes, scoliosis smacks you in the face, and the best way to handle it is just emBrace it.

Other facts about me: I was born in New Zealand, I love to read, do aerial yoga, and play with my Old English Sheepdog.

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Hi! I’m Eva. I am 11 years old and going into sixth grade. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis near the end of fourth grade. The doctor looked at my back for my yearly check-up and said that there was just a little curve, nothing to worry about. Later that summer my mom and I flew to Philadelphia to my current scoliosis doctor. He looked at my x-ray and said that the curve was about 24-27 degrees. A month later, I got a Boston brace to help my curve.

A few weeks after I had my brace, my mom took me to a Curvy Girls' pool party where I met the previous leader who was very welcoming and kind. I kept coming to meetings for about a year when one of the leaders stepped down. I was sad that she decided to step down, but I knew I wanted to be one of the leaders. As soon as I knew she was stepping down, I reached out to her to tell her I would be interested in becoming one of the leaders. She helped me get in contact with the people who made that decision. About a month after reaching out to her I was the new co-leader.

Curvy Girls inspired me to be more confident about my scoliosis. I love all the activities we do together and I love meeting more girls who have scoliosis. I have met so many amazing girls through Curvy Girls and can’t wait to meet more.

Some of the things I like to do are, play volleyball, basketball, and hang out with my friends. I have a labradoodle whose name is Oliver. I also have an older sister who is sixteen. I was born in Austin, and I love to travel.