Please help my scoliosis chica fundraise to help build 5,000 Higgy Bears with their own scoliosis back brace for other scoliosis patients! If you could give $25 and pass this on to a family member or friend we can hit my dsughter's goal of $500. From my scoliosis warrior: Higgy Bears means so very much to me and my family. I got a Higgy Bear from my Mom when I was 1st diagnosed and soon added to my personal collection with my 2nd brace. Higgy Bears founder & creator wants to ensure all scoliosis kiddos/teens know they are not alone and are loved so she created these bears as a visual reminder we do not go through this lifelong journey alone. We are scoliosis warriors and are able to do "normal" activities and sports like anyone our age despite our spinal curves or if we need spinal fusion to help correct our curves. We do have limitations when wearing our plastic back braces as we cant bend at the hip with it on and we need to wear it for a majority of the day taking it off for recess, sports, etc. Higgy Bears is non-profit so fundraising helps to give one of these adorable plush animals with a scoliosis curve, brace, or fusion scar to someone like me. Please donate today so my Higgy Friends and I can help build 5,000 Higgy Bears while we are at a Higgy Bear Conference this summer! My scolio story started when I learned I have scoliosis in March 2022 with a 40 degree right curve in my thoracic and 18 degree left curve in my lumbar sections of my spine. These curves pushed my right shoulder forward to point where it stuck out. I had a hard time standing straight during choir on the bleachers and my shoulder hurt me when I did stand straight. We went to my pediatrician check up when I was 10 and told them about this and they did an Adams Bend test where I bent to touch my toes slowly and my rib hump showed. My dr measured it with a scolio meter and told my mom to follow up with a spinal orthopedic surgeon/dr where the xrays taken showed my spinal curves. My posture was off too as I put more weight on one leg to support my curves. It changed my world and I was made a special scoliosis back brace tailored to my curves to help derotate and straighten my curves to a more postural correct alignment. It does not "fix" the curves.. my scolio brace trained my body to stand correctly and helped my curves stabilize so they did not grow as I continued to grow. Like a growing baby tree needing wooden stakes tied to it to support the tree to grow straighter. Curves near 50 degrees is where orthopedic dr's will consider surgery. My scolio brace was worn for 2 and a half years and prescribed wear time 24hrs/7days a week. I got up to 16-18 hrs a day and did not want to wear it, didn't want anyone to know I wore it, and hated when people touched me when I wore it. I was in 4th grade andchad to leace class a lot to take it off/put it on in the nurses office. Embarrassing to have to leave class and comeback. I thought I'd rather have surgery and didn't want to join groups for scolio patients, but my mom made me join Curvy Girls and try Higgy Zoom call even though I hate zooms. We went to a Higgy Conference a year into my bracing journey and that is where I realized if all these girls and some boys could wear their scolio braces outside their clothes proudly that I can do that too! I felt loved and empowered to help other kiddos/teens with scoliosis at my dr offices by doing my own fundraiser and sharing my story/journey with other scolio patients on social media. The teens and adults who talked at Higgy Con had helped me be "ok" with wearing my brace like I was told to... even at school as that was harder than sleeping with it on at night. July 2024 my out of brace xrays showed my curves are 32 right thoracic & 12 left lumbar and I was skeletally mature to stop wearing my brace at night for 8hrs. They weaned me off brace wearing over a year with my 6month progress check up appts - 14hrs in Jan appt told to wear it at night for 8hrs till July appt where I got to stop bracing. I sometimes miss the brace and feel like I need to wear it. My next follow up is this July to see how my curves are holding. My Higgy Bears help me when I feel sad or alone. It is hard to be different like this and wonder if anyone can see my curves or shoulder/rib hump when I don't stand in posture correction position. My Higgy Bears remind me of my scoliosis friends I see at Higgy Con & of the Higgy Bear creator Lauren who has scoliosis just like me. They make it more "bear-able" to have scoliosis... and it makes me smile to give a Higgy Bear to someone like me who needs to be reminded they are loved and that someone like them cares/understands what they are going through in their scolio journey. Thank you for your donation! You can check your kiddos for scoliosis too by looking up the Adam's Forward Bend test and asking their pediatrician to check for scoliosis ages 8 and up.