Hey guys! I'm so excited that several of you have found my page!

Just to let you know, I've read all your comments! I just don't always reply sometimes.

Feeling insecure about the brace showing through is so normal. It's perfectly normal to be afraid of people knowing. And pain with your brace is normal.

My brace is especially painful. I have calluses on my side, and sometimes during school, I'll have to slip into the bathroom, rip my brace off, only to find that they're bleeding. I have a huge bruise ontop of a muscle that's tangled into a knot and pressure is painful on it.

Some are more painful than others. I get it. But you can't take the pain and the fears and bottle yourself up. Don't you think you can use your experience to help others? I had a older friend who had scoliosis, but it was really bad. And she became a hermit for two years, until she got a brace. But she never wore the brace. Now, she needs surgery. She told me that the one more important thing was to wear the brace. Don't give up on it. it's not worth it to give up.

She was homecoming queen, Has a boyfriend, and is a model for a store. But she is as sweet as can be and she really inspired me to step out of this shell that I had created to protect myself from people. The shell was made of fear and built up pain, that I wasn't letting go.

So what if you have a little curve, your ribs lean a little to the right, you still have the potential to do something great! And you're not going to have the brace forever. I've worn my brace 24 months. And I can assure you when the doctor releases you from it and you look back, you're gonna think, wow. I wish I had just used the pain and fears to become a stronger person.

I know it's really hard to let go, email me if you would like to know more about me and how I'm getting through it. I would love to help! awsmshaw@gmail.com