My story

Hey, my name is Petra, and at the time of writing, I'm 16 years old. I live in the 'heart of Europe', Hungary.

I've always been mocked by my family for my slant shoulders. Despite that, doctors and school nurses couldn't see anything strange with my back on the annual examinations. Until the autumn of 2012.

The new school doctor finally realised that there's something wrong and sent me to the orthopaedy. I went there in January, and the specialist there told me that I not only have scoliosis, but also an abnormal twist in my spine. She told me to immediately get an X-ray of my back and that I'll have to wear a corset.

At first, I thought of a fabric one, like the one women wore a few decades ago. But when I got curious and searched for it on the Net, I had to realise it's not like that at all. This thing, called Chêneau corset is the worst thing you can imagine to wear as a teenage girl. It's a big, ugly, plastic stuff and you have to wear at least one layer of clothes under it. I even had a boyfriend and I wasn't sure what he'll say to that. I didn't want to wear it, but I knew that if I were stubborn about it, it'd be even worse later and that I'd regret not doing everything I can for my health. So I said 'okay, let's do it', and started wearing it.

This is the corset specially made for me

My hatred for the idea of bearing that brace on me wasn't the only one or even the biggest trouble. The other problem was that I got it in June, and while most people have 3 weeks to get used to the corset, I had only 4 days. After that I had my first flight, my first trip outside Middle-Europe, across the ocean. It wasn't easy. With my fear of height and being afraid of big amounts of water, and mostly, wearing the corset while sitting for 8 hours, and not even being able to sleep it through, cause I couldn't find a comfortable position.

It was worth it, though. I spent my best summer out in Rhinebeck, NY in a summer camp called Camp Rising Sun. There were 60 teenage girls from all around the world and we became real sister during that 2 months. Even though I had (probably) Lyme disease and I had to do everything in the brace, and the one thing I surely can't say about camp is that it was boring. We were running around whole day being productive and stuff.

So yes, when I came back, I knew that my life has changed. Not just because I've met lots of new friends in the US. Not just because we made it through the whole summer with my darling without meeting. But also because I've grown to be proud of the corset. I was proud of that I was able to do almost anything I wanted in it. I was proud of that I didn't take it off every single time I felt like it (which means all the time). This way I could make a great progress in my recovery.

It made my life harder, but I could find the beauty in it. I also tried being fashionable in it. It was hard at the beginning, but the people around me seem to like the way I dress. I don't try to hide the corset under huge T-shirts or sweaters. It's a part of me now, so it has to be something that people see. And I hope that those people will not just see something ugly, but something that can be as fashionable as any other accessory.