21: From Self-Doubt to Self-Acceptance — Eli Yeung’s Scoliosis Journey

In this powerful episode, Dr. Laura and Dr. Beth sit down with special guest Eli Yeung, a model based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who shares his deeply personal journey living with scoliosis and undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

Eli opens up about discovering his scoliosis as a teenager, navigating diagnosis with limited awareness, and ultimately facing a rapidly progressing curve that led to surgery in early adulthood. While he initially brushed off the emotional impact, he reflects on how unprocessed feelings around body image and self-worth resurfaced later in life—especially as he entered the modeling industry.

This conversation dives into the often-overlooked mental and emotional side of scoliosis, particularly for men. Eli shares candidly about the challenges of comparison, confidence, and visibility—what it feels like to live in a body that doesn’t match perceived ideals, and how that shaped his identity both personally and professionally.

Through modeling and sharing his story on social media, Eli began a journey of self-acceptance—learning to embrace his body, scars, and asymmetries rather than hide them. He discusses how vulnerability became a tool for healing, and how speaking openly about scoliosis helped him reconnect with parts of himself he had long ignored.

The episode also explores:

• Life after spinal fusion, including recovery, pain, and long-term adaptation
• The role of movement and fitness in maintaining strength and confidence
• The nuanced conversation around whether scoliosis or spinal fusion is considered a “disability”
• The importance of representation—especially for men with scoliosis
• How staying active and finding enjoyable forms of exercise can support long-term quality of life

Eli leaves listeners with a powerful message: scoliosis does not define you. Through self-compassion, creativity, and movement, it’s possible to build a strong, fulfilling life—on your own terms.

Whether you’re living with scoliosis, supporting someone who is, or simply looking for an honest conversation about body image and resilience, this episode is both inspiring and deeply relatable.

Follow Eli for his relatable and hilarious spinal fusion and scoliosis content @oops_itseli on Instagram. 

Join the conversation:

Have questions about scoliosis-specific PT or want help finding a trained therapist? Reach out to Dr. Laura or Dr. Beth 

And don’t forget to follow, rate, and share ScoliPod to help more people discover evidence-based scoliosis care.

Finally, don't forget to subscribe to ScoliPod on your favorite pod catcher so you never miss an episode!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Scolypod, the show that's rewriting the rules about living with a curved spine. I'm Dr. Beth Taranova, and I'm Dr. Laura Glazebrook.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

As experts in the field of scoliosis and scoliosis superheroes ourselves, we're bringing you research-backed solutions, expert interviews, and real success stories that prove one thing. You are more than your scoliosis diagnosis.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Together, we will dispel the myths and mixed information, sharing helpful insights and tips based on the most current research and knowledge of scoliosis care. If you have scoliosis, spinal fusion, or support someone who does, whether as a movement pro, family member, or anatomy enthusiast, get ready to transform your perspective on living with scoliosis. Now let's dive into today's episode. Hello and welcome to another episode of Scolypod. We are so excited to be here with another special guest today. I'm Dr. Laura.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

And I'm Dr. Beth.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

And we are joined by an extra special guest from the modeling space, actually. So we are here with Eli. And he has agreed to be with us today to tell his story. Hi, Eli. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Hi, I am well. And how about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:25

We're good. So I thank you first of all for taking the time to be with us. There's actually quite a time difference because we are based here in the US on the East Coast, and you are currently Belfast?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Yes, I'm in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

So yes, thank you for agreeing with the uh the time difference. I know that can be a bit of a barrier.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

No, not at all. It's an afternoon here.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

So yeah, I think it would be so great. Um, we have had a couple of guests so far, but actually you are the first male guest that we've had, and the first male with scoliosis. And I was sort of hoping that you could spend a little time tell us the story about your diagnosis, you know, your surgery, whatever feels appropriate. And um we would love to hear.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Of course. Um I started this journey when uh because my was like post-fusion when I became a model, so it's not that apparent, but there's always this lingering feeling, lingering feeling of me not feeling perfect enough or not feeling like I'm as good as the other models. So there's a lot of kind of like self-doubt and like body image whereby I don't feel a hundred percent comfortable myself as a person. So I thought of using my social media as a way to confront that fear, and by doing that, by confronting my fear, it actually kind of like I felt exposed, and I have to kind of accept who I am as a person, which is a very healing journey, and there's so many things that I swamped under the rug that I kind of forgotten when I was growing up, so uh so I had to tap back. So when I'm when I'm growing up, I think I only started realizing that I had scoliosis probably when I was about 17, 16, 17, or 18. So during my teenage years, and uh at that time it was more of like a I was susp I suspected that I have scoliosis, but I didn't know that I have scoliosis, I didn't even know that there's a term called scoliosis, um and there wasn't any AI, but there was Google, so I had to like Google it, and I've got other friends who kind of like pointed out to me that like, oh you don't really stand quite straight. So they noticed it first that I did. So I started looking into the mirror and I'm like, okay, I'm like standing a little bit lopsided, but I still thought that maybe I'm just leaning more to one side, which yes I was, but not to that extreme whereby I can rest my whole elbow on my right hip. So I I started Googling it and I I found the term scoliosis, but I wasn't 100% whether that it was scoliosis, so I decided to prom my parents and we went for a checkup, and that's when I got the final kind of uh diagnosis from from the orthopaedic specialist here in Singapore that I have scoliosis. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

And how was that? I I mean, I know that for a lot of us that there can be a lot of like emotion and you know things that come up when we get that diagnosis. Was there anything that you had to kind of go through as you processed what that meant? Or like how how was that for you?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

In hindsight, I I took it very lightly, even all the way to my surgery, because I didn't I didn't really want to accept that and I feel like maybe I didn't have a word for how I was feeling. And now that thinking back, it's a lot about like body image. I compare myself to to other to other of my of my male friends. It's like, oh why do they why are they always like they look they look quite fit or they are able to get like perfect perfect proportion and things like that, and why can't I? So but that was something that I learned to accept, but it was it affected me mentally, but not in a direct way until later in in my years, like now I'm in my 30s, and then now when I started modeling, I had to face that, confront that part of me, which was I just swept it under the rug. You know, and when I got my diagnosis, I was just like, Okay, uh, what can I do to improve myself? So I started doing a little bit more workout and try to be a bit more mindful about things, and even my backache. One of my friends from college actually texted me recently, she DM'd me and she said, Oh, I remember you having a few backache back then, back in the days. And I didn't I didn't even remember those. I remember vaguely that I had a few backaches during my teenage years, but it didn't come across to me as like scoliosis, so basically I took this thing very lightly, and I feel that it's so important for people with scoliosis to kind of like let their parents know, especially during their teenage years, because it could be something that is quite embarrassing, especially as as teenagers, we are very conscious about our growing body and things like that, and we don't want to share because I'm afraid of what other people how people might judge me at the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Absolutely. It can be something that if you notice yourself, you might be thinking, like, oh, I don't know, is there something wrong? Like, what can I do? Should I just like, should I not say anything? What like when I first noticed like some of my scoliosis rotation? I thought, like, did I break my rib? Like, why is my rib stick out this way? Did I injure it at some point? And then you have to realize, like, no, this was actually coming from the scoliosis. So it sounds like once you were diagnosed, pretty quickly you went to having surgery, or was there like a time between, or how did you make that decision to have the surgery? Because you were almost you were pretty much an adult at that point.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah. Uh I remember going to see the specialist every year. So the specialist actually said to me that you have to come and see me every so often. So that's what I did. And it's a requirement to do national service in Singapore. So we had like two years of national service. I had to do the army. So before that, I was in college, and during college I went to see, so it was 20-something degree, 20 plus degree. All of a sudden, one one year it was like 30-something, and once I joined the army the second year, it went on to it progressed to about 40 40-something degree. So the specialist said that okay, this is like a a thing that is like it that it will progress. So we will need to do a surgery on you. And and I went for I went for the surgery.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

And how so having um I had a surgery as well. I was much younger when I when I had mine, so I can imagine after having spoken to so many people with different experiences, I remember how I felt going into and coming out of surgery. I mean, it was it was very much like a life-shaping moment for me. Um, but I'd be curious because your circumstances were so different. Did did the surgery impact you in any like, you know, significant way as far as do you feel like you had any issue with the surgery itself? Or do you feel like that was not necessarily an issue for you?

SPEAKER_00 9:15

I remember very clearly that uh I had to learn how to walk again immediately the next day. So the nurse had to like, okay, we have to get you up. And uh and I was I was on morphine at that point, so they were kind of like not laughing, but kind of like making a joke and making making it fun and lighthearted because I was I was a little bit dizzy at the point of time, so they were trying to encourage me in a in a funny way. So I had they helped me up, and I had to like walk, and they were like holding me. So that was that was quite a very memorable experience for me, and because I was on on so much morphine, I couldn't eat properly as well. So then there was one point whereby uh uh I started vomiting everything out that I I actually consumed, so they had to take me off morphine at a time uh and just six months of of powering through recovering. Uh yeah, it's it's it's a painful six months. But after that six months, I I am actually quite impressed by how fast I have healed and the things that I can actually do as well. Uh I can do I can go to the gym, I can lift, I can I can do a lot of things. The only thing that I cannot do and I have to watch myself and be mindful of is not to fall. Because one fall, which I have had a few times, it would be a straight of like say like two weeks of flare-up that I can't stand straight, I can't walk properly, and it's really really painful. And now that I am in my my mid to late 30s, especially the change of season from summer to autumn over the past three years, I've been getting flare-ups, say about October time, when the weather starts to like drop and the weather's a bit wet, so I get trap nerfed, which there's nothing much that it can be done. I went and got x-ray done and things like that, and and the doctors say there's nothing wrong, the implant looks okay. Uh they just prescribe me with painkillers, and because of my experience with morphine, I am very reluctant to take any sort of painkillers at all. So I would rather power through my pain than to take any painkillers, which I think I'm quite used to the pain as well.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

And unfortunately, I think that's even something here in the US that happens to people after they've had a spinal fusion. If they have pain and they go to the doctor, the doctor's like, well, the surgery looks okay, so I don't know. Um, what could it be? Right? It's like as long as everything's still intact, they think like, how is it possible you could have any pain? Like your spine is corrected now. Yeah. So um, how is that possible, right? And it can be hard to find help when you're struggling with pain with a spinal fusion.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah, there's there's nowhere to help. And I find that especially like there's still a part of me that I don't want like uh people to give me like pettiness because I have had fusion surgery. You know, I would still try to do my things by by regular daily routine. Like I won't go around and tell other people on the on like at work or or people that I see every day, like, oh okay, because of my scolosis and hurt, I'm I'm in pain and and I can't do so many other things. I would still try my best until a point whereby, like, okay, maybe this is a bit too much. Then I would try to maybe explain and take a few days off or or just rest and and you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, I think that's a that's an area where I struggle with. We do have, for anyone who's not very familiar, there is a little bit of a community of people with spinal fusion for scoliosis in places like Instagram. You know, there's there's little pockets of us that find each other. And I think one of the things that I struggle with, kind of like what you mentioned, Eli, is I think there is a there's a proportion of people who call spinal fusion like a disability. Yeah. Um, and I think that's something that I know I struggle with because I don't, and maybe because I was fused so young and I'm stubborn and I'm an athlete and I don't want anyone telling me that I can't do something. Maybe it's just a personality thing. But I struggle with a similar issue where I don't want anyone to tell me that I can't do something because of my spinal fusion. And when something is when I'm having a hard time with something, I I sometimes don't even equate it to being a related to my spinal fusion at all. So I don't know. It's sounds like that's something that you've also sort of resonate with.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

It it really does. It's quite strange because I was asked recently that uh to share about my disability as a person living with schools, and I thought to myself, like, is it really a disability? Yes, there are some inconvenience, but is it really because it's it's a spectrum. You know, where do we fall in the spectrum? I think I there are some inconvenience whereby, like I said before, I can't fall because if I fall, that's it, two weeks out. But if not, I can do I do my 50 burbies every day, I do my body weight workout every day, no problem. I can go to the gym, I can lift weights, but of course I have to retrain myself of like okay, which how am I gonna lift the weight comfortably without straightening my back? You know, uh tying my shoelaces can be can be something that I have to I mean it's something that I have to relearn, you know, picking things up off the floor, getting out of the car, simple things like that, it sometimes is challenging, but not life or death situation. So I I don't see it as like uh a disability as for me now and after my surgery I always think that maybe when I hit my 40s or 50s, I will at some point whereby there will be some hard truth that I have to face. But so far, as of yet, nothing yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Do you ever hit your head on the car door frame? Because I do that once in a while. We have like two cars between me and my husband, one is a larger car and one is like a smaller sedan. And sometimes if I'm going too fast and I don't do the weird thing with your neck where you have to get in, I smack my head on the car. Always feel so great.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

No.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Well, I hope you never experience the pleasure because it's quite dark.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah. But I suppose because my my fusion surgery is not all the way high up to my neck. I know some patients they have that. I'm not sure about you. Um, mine is only like the middle portion. My doctor decided to give me some flexibility. So he said, like, okay, I will only operate this part and monitor you. So now that I recall, it's like, okay, I had that fear of like, do I have to go back for another surgery again? Because it's only the middle portion that has that has been fused, but so far, so good. Fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

I think the fear of what the future holds is something that many people struggle with, whether they have scoliosis or a spinal fusion, because they say, Well, I'm not having issues now, but you know, what's gonna happen in the future? Like, will my curve progress, or will I need another surgery, or will I need, you know, there's so many things that we don't know going forward, but also things could go really well and you could do all the things that you want to do and and not have to worry about it as much as you think.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yep. And I think if it's if it's helpful, we so um Beth and I go to the um scoliosis like research every year. There's an international conference where they talk about all the research. And in case it's helpful, in case you haven't heard it, the research is that especially being able to stay active, even you know, if you have a big curve, your your chances of having a good quality of life, like a you know, a really good life even into old age are much better. So I think like hearing that as somebody who lives with a spinal fusion, um, just knowing that there is some evidence there that, like, hey, even despite having a spinal fusion or despite having scoliosis, you can still have quite a good, fulfilling, like happy life. And even like regardless of your spinal situation. So in case you haven't heard it, you heard it here.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

No, I I've not, I've never I've never heard of it. So I will do some research on it. So, what what are some of the things that they say that will kind of help with your final fusion to have a better quality of life? What are the things that they they kind of share about? Like some examples.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

So um there's, I don't know if you have a scoliosis-specific um specialist near you that can teach you specific exercises for, you know, usually even with a spinal fusion, there may be some scoliosis above or below that um sometimes needs to be sort of managed. Um, so that's one of the things that of course we both have a bias that um be learning how to do those exercises and doing them, you know, regularly, preferably daily, is actually really, really helpful from a pain perspective, from like a posture perspective, uh, from being able to move well and um to be able to do all the things that you love without fear of pain and an issue like that. And I will let Beth talk about um the strength training because she has a whole empire behind her on that. But strength training is important.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

That's my bias, is the the weight training side of things because I have scoliosis, but also I compete in weightlifting. So that that's been my experience with it. So keeping your muscles strong, especially the muscles around your fusion, above and below your fusion, your core muscles is really important. Um, and when we work with people who have had spinal fusions, of course, addressing like any imbalance that's still there, like if we notice that, but also then um really strengthening for the long term. So I was excited to hear that you're, you know, in the gym, you're working out, like that's that's awesome because many people don't even know, like some people don't even think like after spinal fusion that they can work out, that that's something that they can do, right? Like they're afraid, oh, I'm gonna break my rods or my screws, and and that's not really that's not really the case. Like you can get really strong even if you have a spinal fusion.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Yeah. I think that's that's one of the things that my specialists actually encourage me to do right after my surgery is to okay, uh, I can't remember. I think I was in the hospital for about a week and I was discharged the second week, and he actually encouraged me to go out and walk. Just walk a lot at a park every day. So I think it kind of like got into me to stay as active as I can. And I did my surgery in 2009, so that was that was a long time ago. So and I I still try to keep myself active, and in the recent years, I think three, four years, I stopped going to the gym because I feel that body weight training is actually more beneficial for me. So I started doing just daily press-ups, uh burpees, uh you know, mountain climbers, and just basic body movement, and I find that a lot more beneficial than me going to the gym lifting weights and all. I mean, I have two barbells over here, but they're like lightweight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

So there's and I think everyone has different. I I'm also a firm believer. I work with people in person and people virtually. And I also believe that your fitness is going to look different compared to somebody else's based on what you will do. One of the things that I say frequently, I don't know, Beth, if you say this as well, but the best exercise is the one that you will do. So I have people in front of me who love going to the gym and lifting weights, and that's amazing. I have some people that hate lifting weights. So we try to find something that will help them to be active. So whether that's whether that's like a group fitness class. Or whether that's some kind of endurance sport or something. I think the big key is to be active. There was also some research in this past, this past year's conference where they talked about the importance just of activity in general. So there's an amazing group out of Italy who does a lot of research and they were saying that there's no such thing as one good or you know one perfect exercise for scoliosis or spinal fusion, but neither is there like a really bad one. It's it's more can you be active? And you know, is I think that's the the big takeaway is find something that you enjoy and then do it and keep your body strong.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah, absolutely. I I totally agree. Scoliosis or not, you have to exercise, you know. But I feel like with especially with scoliosis, it's so, so, so important to keep a call strong.

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Definitely, definitely. Um, I'm curious because you know, we the we're talking about kind of the research and stuff, and we find that actually scoliosis affects more females than males, and that's why it was so important for us to bring you on, because we want to also represent the male community with scoliosis. So, do you find that there's any difference being a man with scoliosis? Like, do you feel that there's different stereotypes or different things that you're like, you're like, oh, you have to be strong or you have to do this or that? Like, and and have you found any of that as you've kind of gone through your your journey?

SPEAKER_00 23:32

I I have it's mainly like body image, and I find very hard to even after my surgery, the scar. I find quite embarrassing to be topless, going to the beach, going to the to the to the pool. And people will ask, like, oh, what's what's your scar and things like that, and I find myself having to explain my scar. So and by trying to explain my why I have a scar down my back makes me not want to go to the beach or want to go to the pool or or just just general things. You know, so body image is is it's uh it's difficult. And as a model going on set, sometimes if they ask me to go topless or things like that, I get very, very conscious about about it, or I would like start comparing myself to other male models. Like, oh, they look good and they are like they're like perfect, they are like sculpted, and I look at myself like oh, a skinny man with scoliosis and a scar at the back. Yeah. So I think this this kind of affected me in terms of uh me having scoliosis, comparing myself to other people.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

You know, I I mean I think that's something we we do too. I mean women men like body issue can be a big image. Uh a bit body image can be a big issue for all of us. Um because we think probably we notice more than other people actually notice, because we're so aware of it.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

I'm curious actually because sorry, I'm curious actually because after my surgery, I can still see the asymmetry, especially like my neck. It's not obvious to people though, like especially my neck when I look at because I look at myself in the mirror almost every day, like when we brush our teeth and things like that. You know, I can see that it's it's a little bit more leaning to the right, and my my rib is still sticking out a little bit, not as bad as uh pre-fusion, and I can still see my hip is one side is a little bit higher than the other, but it gets so loud in my head that I start to criticize myself. So that's why I find that it's so important to share our experience as a person with scoliosis that we have to just love ourselves and learn to accept who we are as a person and to see how we can improve our life, our you know that way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a journey, it's really a journey for all of us to kind of find that acceptance, right? Because even like you said, after surgery, some people they're still gonna have asymmetry, it's not gonna be a hundred percent straight. There's still a scar, but in a way, it almost is visible but invisible because people don't see what's going on inside, right? They don't know maybe unless you tell them that you had the surgery. Um so that can definitely make it very, very challenging and go back to that conversation we had before about like, do I identify as disabled? Do I not? Because people from the outside might not even realize that you've had uh surgery or that you've had you've had that. So absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

It's also a thing whereby when you tell people that you have got scoliosis, or if you just bring this word up, people might know and they just kind of like brush it off. It's like, oh scoliosis, or and they just don't really care that much, you know. So but I think the the impact physically and mentally is it's real, and I've also even met people with like mild scoliosis that they didn't they don't have to go for fusion surgery, but they would just say to me, like, oh but it's not that bad because they have like mild scoliosis, so they don't have the full experience of like of like what we have gone through. So it's something whereby I feel that it's so important to let people know that scoliosis also comes in different shapes and form it's a spectrum of of people living with scolosis, it's not just a one-size-fiddle thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah, and I think that the our own perception of how our body appears, or you know, how regardless of what actually people are seeing, that we have a very, or I will speak for myself, I have a perception of of how my body appears to other people, and that doesn't necessarily match the reality, you know, in in a positive way and in a not positive way. Um, like for instance, I will be at the gym and I will be lifting weights and I will see someone um, you know, like watching me do an exercise. And so there's a little part of my brain that says, oh, they're looking at my back. They're seeing how asymmetrical my back is. When they might, because I do have an asymmetrical back, or they might just be like, wow, she's doing a really hard exercise and she's holding a lot of weight, or like maybe I should do that exercise. But my brain always goes to that place first.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

Tell us a little bit about how you got into modeling, right? Because that was after you had your spinal fusion. So, like, how did you get interested? Like, how did you how did you do that?

SPEAKER_00 29:05

So, when I first moved to Belfast, uh I I was in between jobs. So I met people and they said, Oh, you should sign up for for this thing called and I extras. So it's like being an extra on firm for TV sets and things like that, because Northern Ireland has kind of become the hotspot in the UK after Game of Thrones. Because it was short here in Northern Ireland. So I was like, okay, uh, I'll just sign up for that and just maybe earn some extra cash while I'm looking for other jobs. And on set, so I got into this, I got this job, and on set, this uh hair stylist actually saw me and said, Oh, okay, you you have this look uh for for a model, so uh I can recommend you to an agent locally. So I'm saying, okay, why not? Uh just let me I can try it out for fun. Why not, right? So that's how I got into my first modeling agency, and I thought like it's something that is quite quite fun and quite interesting to do, and it's it's creative and it it kind of pushes me out of my comfort zone, and I was also a photographer before. So it would be quite an interesting experience. So I started looking for other agencies um also in Dublin and also in in mainland England, and that's how I got into modeling on a bigger on a bigger scale.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

That is so cool. I I love that. Has there been something that you feel like your journey with scoliosis or fusion has like set you up for some of the challenges of working as a model or like you know being in the field that you are?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yes, uh body image is one big thing for sure. Uh in London, I was rep I'm represented by an agency called Zabody. So they are an inclusive agency that that also have models that are like Down syndrome with uh other other conditions as well. So uh it's a very diverse and inclusive agency. So that's how I found strength and bravery to kind of like talk about my my condition as a person living in scholarsis and started I don't really want to use the word advocate, but started advocating it, you know, uh as a way to kind of like as cliche as as it may sound to to heal myself because a lot of this maybe people with scoliosis don't really want to talk about their own body image, they don't feel confident about it and and as a model, this is the biggest challenge that I face as a person. So, regardless if I'm represented by an agency that represents talent who are diverse, who are that's inclusive, it is still a challenge for me to share my experience, and and I thought the more maybe I should do it to push myself out, and once I've said it, maybe it doesn't really matter anymore, and maybe I will help somebody out there in the world, regardless how many are there. And here I am today talking about it with both of you.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

No, I think that is so amazing, and on that note, um we may have some people listening who are parents of kids with scoliosis, or maybe like for instance, I have a son who has scoliosis. And there's not as much, I feel like, from especially from the male point of view, um, on what it's like to live and thrive with scoliosis or with spinal fusion. So if you were talking to someone who were needing who was needing a little bit of guidance or some uh some encouragement or just some wisdom on how this diagnosis, how this condition, um how to live well with it, or you know, some some tips of encouragement, what would you what would you say?

SPEAKER_00 33:21

Oh I think for me it's like there there are a lot of things whereby it's it's quite hard to accept, but at that point of my life there wasn't a word for it to describe how I exactly feel. But now that now I kind of know that it's actually what we all need is a bit of self-love and self-compassion. That regardless of how your body might look and how you might feel, you know, uh scoliosis will not define you, but you will have to find ways, maybe other creative ways that you would definitely have other strength that will help you through this journey of self-compassion and self-love. You know, it could be it could be writing, it could be starting a podcast. For me it's modeling, it could be you wanting to maybe drive a fast car. You know, I've seen I've seen like for yourself, you are into into sports and therapy, you know. Uh I've seen also like PD trainers who are like ultra fit with that's like post obfusion. You know, uh so yeah, I think it it makes us stronger rather than rather than we go, we have we have literally a support down our back.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

I love that. That's a great way to look at it. Like you you have that extra support, support the bionics, the bionic spine, kind of the next spine, the next level of it. Laura, well, obviously this is a podcast, so you can't see, but Laura is wearing her bionic and iconic shirt. We can leave a link for those there.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

I'd love to see it. Can I have a look? Is that possible?

SPEAKER_01 35:09

And there's um, I I can't really show you the back there. It's um there's someone, I don't know if you follow Bionic Ballerina or um the Bionic Project. She has these shirts where and it has like a curve on the back with like hardware.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

So um I think I've seen it.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Yeah. So I like to wear it at the gym. Like I'm gonna be going to the gym later to lift some weight. So I like to have it. So in case people are looking at my back, I'll be like, hey, this is what my back looks like around the inside. And I'm still lifting heavier than you are.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

Yeah, I know. I love that. Well, Eli, if people want to connect with you or like if people have questions maybe about your journey, like where can they find you? Or where, where, what, where's your handle? Like, give us all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Oh, uh, but look for me on Instagram. Feel free to DM me. I try to reply uh everyone usually. So my handle on Instagram is oops, it's Eli O-O-P-S underscore. It's Eli I T S E L I.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. It was such a pleasure to finally speak to you. I want to say in person. We're not in person, but like face to face. Yes. It's an absolute pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Um no, it's an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

And to everyone listening in, we hope this was a helpful and encouraging conversation for you. And we will catch you on the next episode of Skolypod.