From bullying in the locker room to life-changing spinal surgery, Audrea Craig’s journey with scoliosis has been anything but easy. Diagnosed at just 10 years old, she spent years battling shame, isolation, and chronic pain—until she discovered the healing power of poetry. In her debut book Secret Feelings, Audrea turns her private pain into powerful prose, giving voice to the emotional weight of living with a condition few talk about. Now, she’s not just sharing her truth—she’s using it to advocate, inspire, and let others with scoliosis know: you are not alone.
I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Scoliosis around the age of 10 or 11, the summer before I started Middle School. I didn’t fully understand what scoliosis was, just that it was serious and could lead to having spinal surgery which was something I didn’t want. When word went around that I had Scoliosis, I ended up getting bullied a lot, I was known as the ‘disease girl’ and if you hang around me you would catch it. Gym class was the worst because, in the girls’ locker room, they noticed something was wrong with me. My body was shaped differently. This was when I started to write out everything I was feeling, how much I hated how my body looked, and how alone I was feeling. I felt like I had no one to talk to or who could understand how I was feeling/going through. I knew my father has scoliosis but I didn’t think he could understand what I was feeling since I’m a girl. How could I explain how my body is developing differently from all the other girls? That’s super awkward in my opinion. So poetry was/is my way of expressing these emotions, my therapy.
It’s hard living with scoliosis, especially since it’s a chronic disease. It’s something people don’t speak about, never heard or understand. I hated talking about it for so long because I was ashamed of having it. I was so insecure and despised the way I looked especially after I had spinal fusion surgery at the age of 15. My friends always reassured me and told me how inspiring my journey is, and they’re the reason why I went through my journals and created ‘Secret Feelings’.
Secret Feelings was the very first poetry book I have ever published, I kept it a secret from my family. They didn’t know I wrote poetry and I was terrified about what they would say. So they found out with the rest of the world. The book is a collection of poems about my whole journey. I am struggling with body image, and mental health, and telling a story about everything I went through. I was terrified about creating Secret Feelings because the poems are super intimate, they were pieces I never shared but after publishing them I felt proud of myself because my goal was to help others not feel alone and I knew people could relate. I also wanted to spread awareness about Scoliosis.
Scoliosis is a disease I never hear people talk about, so I want to be that voice. So I want to use my power in writing to spread awareness. Scoliosis affects not just the shape of your spine but your heart, nerves, and breathing. If not treated it can lead to the person being in a wheelchair. Living with scoliosis is a struggle, we live with chronic pains every single day. In a normal eye, it’s just back pain but it’s not. For me, I suffer every day with shoulder pain, and sharp pains down my back, sometimes I feel like my back goes numb, and it’s hard for me to sleep because I feel so uncomfortable. I work on my feet, folding clothes 8 hours straight for 40 hours a week.
I want my work to help people understand how scoliosis affects people like me and I want to help make it more aware so future generations don’t feel ashamed. Writing and sharing my stories helped me be more open and proud to be an advocate for Scoliosis. I’ll never stop sharing my story and spreading awareness. I even got a tattoo to represent how proud I am and how I’m not ashamed of it, and to go along with my poem:
“My spine is shaped like an S, my body isn’t perfect. Even though I have a disease that makes me bent, it doesn’t make me broken. It just made me stronger from the journey it has led me on.”
To those who are struggling with this disease, you are not alone. You are beautiful, unique and our spines makes us powerful to show the world how nothing can tear us down.
IG: @audreaslife and @authoraudreacraig
TikTok: audreacraig
Website: audreacraig.com
