Hi, my name is Mia. I am thirteen years old and this is the beginning of my story of scoliosis.

It all started in the nurses office in May 2003. She noticed my back was a bit uneven and told my mom. That summer I had to get a physical, so we had to make sure we told my doctor to check for scoliosis. She noticed it, too and made us make an appointment for August with doctors at the Children's Medical Center.

I got an X-ray taken, and then my mom and I waited around for them to call us back in to show the X-ray. It turns out I had a thoracic curve (only one) of only thirteen degrees. Even though it wasn't even in the mild range I still worried about it all the time. The doctor prescribed me for a shoe lift to wear until my next appointment in February 2004.

I wore the shoe lift as much as possible and I got to the point of almost forgetting about my slight case of scoliosis. During my school's winter break I went back to the Children's Medical Center where we took another set of X-rays. After the X-ray they sent us back out to the waiting room where I saw a girl with this big pink plastic thing in a canvas bag. I figured it must have been something for scoliosis.

When we went back in to see the X-ray they told me "Even though it is still a slight degree of curvature we are still concerned because it increased one degree a month since August". He showed me the Boston and Charleston Brace. At that moment, it hadn't hit me that I may have to wear one of those big, ugly plastic things.

On the way home I sobbed. Realizing I had a worsening case of scoliosis. At home for the next couple of weeks my parents were on the computer constantly researching scoliosis. They toyed with the idea of going to a Chiropractor versus wearing a brace. I was now really against a day time brace. I didn't want it to affect my life all day. Days later, we were sent to the Children's hospital where I was told about the Charleston nighttime brace (which we opted for along with going to the Chiropractor once or twice every week). I was sized, picked out the colors (pink brace with purple straps).

A few days after my birthday (great present, huh?) we went back where I had to get pictures of me with my brace on and I met my brace. I was shown comfortable positions to sleep in with it on.

I tried to sleep with it that night. I only kept it on for an hour and a half. The next night it was about the same thing, but my arms felt so tired when I woke up. It had felt as though I had been carrying bricks or something. This arm thing only happened about 3 times over two and a half weeks. I only wore the brace for two hours and fifteen minutes at the most. A few weeks after I got my brace, my dad called my orthopedic doctor, the brace maker and the Children's hospital. No one answered our calls. When we got my puppy last spring, we got more calls to see if he was alright than phone calls about me and my Charleston brace!!! Finally, we got a call back from my doctor. We were really upset because I could not sleep well with the brace for two and a half weeks and we couldn't get anyone to call us back! They told us to come to the hospital a few days earlier than our original appointment.

At the hospital, the brace maker told us that my arms had been hurting because the brace was pushing against a bundle of nerves under my left shoulder. The brace maker continued to make adjustments on the brace. They showed me a different comfortable position than before.

That night I wore the brace for seven and a half hours. It felt really comfortable. Every night from then on I have worn it for seven and a half hours to eleven and a half hours.

I go back to the scoliosis doctor in late July to see if my curvature is any better. Everyone has been really great. I even recently did a report on scoliosis (and got an “A”). My friends, family and doctors have all been really supportive and I have a feeling that this is paying off big time in the long run! For anyone else with scoliosis, just have a good attitude about everything and that is half the battle! Good luck everyone!

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