Biblio Library

Growing Up in a Brace is an authentic story about facing and living with a chronic disease. It is written by a daughter and mother whose diary-like glimpses on life with the disease and treatment expand over almost 20 years. Kaisa was born in Finland, in Northern Europe, in 1997. She was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curving spine, when she was a child. She got a thick plastic brace that she wore around the clock for many of her childhood and teenage years. It helped her spine grow straight. Her mother, Marja, did everything she could to make Kaisa's burden as light as possible, as any parent worried for their child. The book depicts their journey of nine years of treatment and years after, from both of their perspectives. Kaisa and Marja encountered several small and big issues beyond getting used to the physical presence of a brace. What clothes fit best with the brace? What exercise supports the back the best? Or what and how to talk about the brace to others and find motivation for years? They wrote down their experiences and all things they would have wanted to know as a family into a book for the first time in 2014. Kaisa's treatment had just ended, and she was 16 years old. The book was published in Finnish. Due to continuous demand and praise from readers, the authors decided to update and expand the book, this time in English. Growing Up in a Brace provides a lot of practical information about scoliosis and bracing through the authors' experience and interviews with medical professionals from the Finnish health care system. It helps newly diagnosed patients and their families adapt to their new reality and find motivation for years of treatment. Deeply personal and honest, the book speaks openly about frustrating encounters at the hospital and shares moments of joy along the way. It tackles practical topics like clothing and discusses deeper themes such as mental health. Finally, the authors look back at the treatment years from a distance - Kaisa is 25 years old today. They answer questions of life after treatment and contemplate how the experience affected their life in more subtle ways. Above all, Growing Up in a Brace is a story of love and caring between parents and children, and of perseverance and accepting one's difference - worth reading for anyone.