Greece

My name is Melina and I am thirteen years old. I am Swedish and Greek. When I got diagnosed with scoliosis it was at a normal doctor appointment. I went to check my sore throat and the next thing I know I am getting x-rays and a brace that I am supposed to wear 20 hours a day. It all happened so fast and it was a huge shock.

When I got diagnosed with scoliosis I didn’t even know what it was. The first thing I did was to start searching on the internet and I was so scared that it was going to define who I was as a person. That’s when I realized that nothing could define me, especially not scoliosis. I am a girl who loves music, singing and dancing. I enjoy dancing ballet and jazz because it lets me express myself. I do musicals and love reading. I am all these things but I am not scoliosis!

It is hard to get used to everyone looking at you with weird faces or get used to people making fun of you but just remember that you are not going through this alone. That is why I wanted to start a chapter in Greece so that all the girls here have some support from girls who are experiencing the same things.

Scoliosis is something not everyone has and not everyone wears braces. So most times the girls who wear braces, including me, feel alone in this journey. I want the girls who are going through the same thing to have a place where we can share our experiences and get advise so that we never have to feel scared or alone.