Chip Chick
Lauren is on a mission to give kids with scoliosis comfort and care through teddy bears made just for them, who look just like them.
What started her journey? Her own battle with the effects of scoliosis and never feeling “normal” post-diagnosis.
Lauren was first examined for scoliosis in gym class when she was 13. Before she knew it, she got X-rays in a doctor’s office and received her diagnosis.
Though Lauren’s condition was not life-threatening, it did challenge her sense of normalcy, and she feared she would never again be like the rest of her classmates.
Finally, after keeping her scoliosis a secret for over 13 years, she found out about a corrective surgery that could make her “normal again.”
So, before the surgery, she finally started telling people about her condition. And what she found was astounding; her friends had relatives and acquaintances everywhere who also had scoliosis.
Lauren realized that her shame was just like everyone else’s; no wonder she had never met anyone who talked about their diagnosis.
Lauren’s first surgery had complications, and she even became temporarily paralyzed. Doctors had to remove all the screws and plating they’d just inserted into her spine to see if that could correct the paralysis, and luckily it did.
When doctors went in for a second try at surgery, they were successful, and Lauren’s dream looked like it was finally coming true.
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