Hi, I’m Emily! I am 20 years old and from Summit, New Jersey!! I am currently a Sophomore at Centenary College here in New Jersey! I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was in the 6th grade, and shortly after that I was told I would need to wear a brace 16 hours a day. It didn’t bother me at first, but it eventually became too much for me to handle, and I rarely wore my brace. My doctor then told me that my brace was no longer going to hold my curve, so I was told that I could stop wearing it. My curve continued to progress, and when I was 15 my doctor told me since my thoracic curve was 53’, I would need surgery. I was referred to Dr. Vitale at Columbia Presbyterian Children’s Hospital. I met with him 3 months later, and when I got new x-rays, he said that my thoracic curve was now at 63’, and my lumbar curve was 32’. He told us that based on how fast my curve progressed in such a short amount of time, and my type of curve, he wanted me to get an MRI of my spine to make sure everything was alright. I got 2 MRI’s, which were very difficult to stay still for due to the muscle twitches that my scoliosis caused. After they got the results back we were referred to a neurosurgeon, who said that I had a Chiari I Malformation (where the cerebellum goes below the base of the skull and can cause pressure in the brain) and a syrinx (a cyst-like pocket of fluid in the spine). Luckily, neither was bad enough to require surgery.
 
In September of 2010, my mom came to me and said that she had scheduled my surgery for January 19th, 2011. I immediately started panicking, and didn’t know how I would ever be able to get through the surgery. Then I remembered seeing Leah on the Teen Nick Halo Awards, and decided to find the group and contacted Robin. She said that a group was being started in NJ, and that she would have the leader email me. My inbox was instantly flooded with supportive emails and that’s when I knew that I was going to love this group! I’ve been an active member of Curvy Girls ever since and with everyone’s support I was able to have my surgery! My thoracic curve was reduced to 22’, and I grew 2 inches!
 
I was really excited to represent Curvy Girls on Z100 with Skeery Jones in 2011!! We talked about the importance of support when girls are dealing with their scoliosis and what it’s like to have scoliosis. I love helping people so I look forward to expanding this group. I am involved in making Duct Tape crafts which I use to raise money for our Convention. I am also currently working on the Curvy Girls fundraising efforts to sponsor a FOCOS patient, Emmanuella!! She is a Curvy Girl just like us and in need of spinal fusion surgery!! Check out the Curvy Girls fundraising page for more information: http://FOCOS.kintera.org/sponsorachild/curvygirlsscoliosis
 
I decided to start a Curvy Girls group in Summit, NJ because I wanted to help other girls who are going through the same things that I went through!!  If you are interested in attending meetings please feel free to contact me!

 

New Jersey Shore