Hi! My name is Atlanta and I am 14 years old.

My scoliosis started off when i was 12 and in year 7. I had my school medical, and my school nurse noticed it. At first i didn't know what it was, and i thought it was a minor thing that would just take resting my back to get it better. My mum was telling me what it was in the car on the way home, and i had never heard of it before in my life, and didnt know what on earth it was!

I was taken to my GP, and then referred to a specialist. His name was Mr. Harrison, and he was really kind and I felt I could trust him on every word he said. I had an x-ray taken, and when I saw it, I was really shocked! I didnt have one curve in my spine, but infact I had 3. The biggest one measuring at 36 degrees.

I almost couldnt beleive it and thought they had made a mistake, and shown somebody elses. Mr. Harrison said I would need a brace immediately, and that we were lucky to have caught it early. Lucky? I didn't feel lucky at all.

The brace fitting wasn't very nice at all. I had to sit bolt upright with a very revealing body stocking on while they wrapped layers and layers of plaster around me. It was warm, wet and really gross. When the plaster dried, I was so stiff i could hardly breathe and was even more terrified when they had to cut me out of it. I wasnt hurt, as I had a leather strip underneath the plaster, but it was still scary.

When I got the brace, I hated it. It was flesh coloured (even though I could choose which colour) and very restricting. I couldnt bend over to do things properly, and I could only eat about half of what I used to be able to, as my brace squished my stomach. I hated it so much, i wore it more than I had to, as I thought it would make my spine straighter quicker. Crazy, I know. When I found out that that wouldnt work at all, I got even more mad, and became this nervous self concious wreck.

Then I had to have another brace made, as I was growing really fast. my curve had also gone up by ten degrees, and I was 5 degrees off the surgery line. I chose for the brace to be white this time. It showed up way more than the other one, and it made me look like a hunchback, really it did. I was devastated. Eventually I got used to it, and it soon became part of the daily routine again.

It was summer before I knew it, and my doctor said not to wear it during the middle of the day, as it was bad for me. I had a lot of school trips to Sicily and Paris, where it was sweltering there, so I did not wear the brace much then either. I hardly wore my brace at all that summer. My mum was worried, so she and I both started doing yoga, and i felt it helped a lot.

My next appt. , I was soo worried that it had gone up, as i hardly wore it at all that summer. but instead of going up, it went down! I was ecstatic, I was now 10 degrees off the surgery line! I think it was maily because of the yoga, I mean what else could it be if I hadn't worn my brace that much? My doctor predicted I would stop growing in January of 2007, and then I would no longer need the brace. I was sooo happy. He said it wasnt for definite, but that was good enough for me. Now I cant wait to see what happens in that next appt!

February 2007 was when my next appointment was. I know he said it was going to be in January, but apparently he was on holiday or something. Anyway, when i went back to the hospital i was sooo nervous. I was just sitting in the waiting room hoping sooo hard that my curve had gone down and I had stopped growing. At my last appt, my curve had measure 30 degrees. I went in, had another x-ray, and then was just completely devastated when I saw that my curve had gone from 30 to 36 degrees. (which is what it was when it started a year an a half ago.) My doctor also said I havent finished growing yet, so I still need to wear the brace a bit more. I was just soo sad I couldnt even say anything, I guess it was my fault really for getting my hopes up.

He took a look at me in the brace and then said "this brace doesn't fit you at all! you'll need a new one as soon as possible, no wonder your curve hasn't gone down!" I have to say I was very relieved at this, because the current brace I had was HORRIBLE an it showed up way too much. I went through another brace fitting, and this time I decided to get my brace in a different pattern, I just thought "what does it matter if it shows, this is going to be the last brace I ever have probably!" so i chose a denim jacket kind of pattern, and then went back home feeling very sad and depressed at how my appointment went.

I got the new brace a week later, and wow I never thought I would say this, but it is AWESOME! Ok I know that sounds weird, and heres why I like it: it shows up a LOT less, and you can hardly see it at all through clothes. That is the part i like most about it. And it's also a lot more appealing to put on if you know what I mean, you don't feel so bad about putting it on cos it has a pretty pattern. My brace maker didn't take an x-ray of me in the new brace, so I wont know what my new curve is until my next appointment.

I am hoping to stop growing and stop wearing the brace by this summer (2007) as my family have decided to move to New York, and it would be REALLY great to go to my new school brace and surgery free. That is my new goal right now, so i am wearing the brace AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

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