Why doesn’t God heal our Scoliosis?

This month’s article is a flashback to August of 2016, where I addressed this very common question. I’ve made a few tweaks to it, to reflect what I’ve learned since then (after 3 years of seminary), but, for the most part, I still agree with it. How has God worked in YOUR life to provide

Looking back on…Thanksgiving…2010!

This post was from Thanksgiving in 2010. So much was different then. My beloved Grandmother was still alive, the kids were young enough to appreciate a hotel with a pool, and the family in general still enjoyed road trips. One thing really rung true with me from this post is how great it felt to

How we advocated for our kids’ scoliosis

This month’s article is a flashback to May 8, 2009 to our son’s fist visit with the Orthopedic specialist. We knew that the “wait and see” approach was not a good approach, and we were ready to go to battle. You can see the article in its entirety HERE. The main focus was how we

Looking back on our first hard brace…

This month, we are looking back on my post from October 14, 2009 titled “Our new adventure with the Cheneau brace.” This recounts the time of our FIRST visit with Luke, founder of National Scoliosis Center, before National Scoliosis Center existed. He was still working at Orthotic Solutions when we first visited. Working with Luke

Looking back…

I have been writing in this blog for over 12 years. And, although we are looking back on our Scoliosis journey, some of you are just starting. I thought that we would start to take a look at some of the earlier articles I wrote. Many are still completely applicable today as they were then.

Beat the Heat in a Scoliosis Brace

No matter which hemisphere you live in, the hot season is tough on kids (and adults) in Scoliosis braces. After 6+ years with either one or two kiddos in a brace, we developed some strategies to deal with the heat. Granted, we live in Michigan in the United States, where temps are pretty mild in

Letting Go

I have been ferociously cleaning out my house this past month and came across a folder tucked in a corner that had a bunch of x-rays from my kids’ many years of Scoliosis checkups. These were not even the digital printouts we are now used to – these were large, old fashioned, x-ray FILMS. I

Savy Leiser – Entrepreneur, Writer, Youtuber and Scoliosis Warrior

I recently began following a young YouTuber named Savy at her channel Savy Writes Books.  The focus of her channel is writing, talking about business, and reviewing books (including business and self-help books).  I started following her because she was critiquing a few popular self-help books and I appreciated her insight, candor, and understanding of

What about sports and Scoliosis?

This is a very important topic and a concern that many new patients and their parents worry about. My daughter wrote HER OWN RESPONSE to this question in 2016, but it is definitely worth re-visiting. When my daughter was first diagnosed, the only sport that our Orthotist told us to avoid was gymnastics. Both of

Transitions are hard

Let me start with something positive: we have launched a brand new website for EmBraced In Comfort. Check us out HERE. Even a “simple” website, however, can take quite some time to move from one web hosting platform to another. This transition took months and it went relatively smoothly, but it is always interesting what

I see you, I hear you, I know: Scoliosis is difficult

The past 5 months have been a bit of a blur. I’ve been finding out what it means to push past exhaustion – physically and mentally. I’ve been chasing my new calling and it’s been a mid-race push. Nearly 12 years ago, I was called by God to put my efforts wholeheartedly into the act

The Long and Winding Road …. Eventually Ends.

This is a photo of my two little Scoliosis warriors – 11 years ago. This was already a couple of years into our journey and when our son got his first brace. He was 5 and actually EXCITED for a brace because he saw his sister wearing one for close to two years by then.

Scoliosis and a Pandemic

What a hectic few months it has been – to say the least!  And, with no end in sight to pandemic restrictions, many people are in major stress mode.  And, this is in addition to stress resulting from Scoliosis.  Many of the medical care providers had to close down for a while for “non-essential” services

At least it’s not cancer.

“At least it’s not cancer…”  How many of us have heard this when we inform others that our child has been diagnosed with Scoliosis?  How many of us think this ourselves?  Or, maybe the flipside – “At least it’s JUST Scoliosis.” I have seen cancer touch so many people’s lives over the past year… I’ve

DONE with bracing! Finally.

We had a checkup with Dr. Li at the University Of Michigan O&P on Friday, which was incidentally my son’s 16th birthday.  As she predicted the last time, he was given the great news that he is DONE with bracing!  He’s been bracing on and off for about 10 years and our family has been

Celebrating a decade of support

It is amazing to think what can happen in our lives in a decade.  Just over 10 years ago, I was dealing with a Scoliosis treatment plan for my 7-year-old daughter and trying to figure out how to make life work in the confines of bracing.  I was where many of my readers are now,

Fading, but not fading away

We are just a few months away from one of the best milestones I can imagine – the finish line for Scoliosis treatment!  That’s right, after over a dozen years of treatments for my two kids, we are almost D-O-N-E.  My daughter “graduated” from treatment when she turned 18 recently, and my son received word

Don’t Blink

Well, she’s gone.  Off to college – my first born, my first Scoliosis warrior.  Our jobs as parents are to work ourselves out of a job.  We WANT them to become independent and capable and ready to spread their wings and fly – yet we also want them close.  I am overjoyed and excited for

A new Scoliosis bracing solution – much closer to home.

Most people who read my blog know that I’m not a fan of the Boston brace.  However, two years ago, when my son had to return to bracing after a several year hiatus, his curves were still very mild (25 degree-ish).  In order to save a lot of time and money going to the National

Scoli-Graduation

I am now back after a writing hiatus that was supposed to be brief, but ended up lasting two months – we have been busy with a flurry of activity, including my daughter’s high school graduation, me directing a community theatre production, a trip out of town, dealing with my son’s new bracing issues AND….