By Jamie BiesiadaOne Wall resident has taken
her own life experience with sco-liosis and turned it into aresource for others with the dis-order, forming her own nonprof-it to aid teenage girls throughdifficult times.
Christie Maruka-Loran,founder of the nonprofit Catchthe Curve and owner of FashionFix, was diagnosed with scoliosisat age 12.
Scoliosis, Ms. Maruka-Loransaid, “is a disorder that causes anabnormal curve of the spine.”That curve can take the shape ofa C or an S, she explained. In theUnited States, 7 million peopleare afflicted with scoliosis.
There are several ways ofdealing with scoliosis, sheexplained, the first being obser-vation to monitor a patient’scondition, and make sure it doesnot get worse. Patients and doc-tors could also opt for the non-operative treatment of a backbrace, or a surgical option —spinal fusion.
By the time Ms. Maruka-Loran, now the mother of 7-year-old Mason, was 15, she hada spinal curve of more than 50degrees. She began wearing abrace, which she said was “enor-mous.”
It was difficult to concealunder her clothing, she said, andshe regularly wore men’s button-down Oxford shirts and jeans.Throughout her teenage years,though, Ms. Maruka-Loran hada passion for fashion and cloth-ing.
“I didn’t fit in with anybody— people always looked at melike I was an overweight person,”she said. “They didn’t even knowthere was a brace underneath.”
By the time she was 19,
another treatment — electricstimulation — had not helpedMs. Maruka-Loran’s condition,and by the time she stoppedgrowing, her spinal curve was at65 degrees, crushing one of herlung’s, compressing her kidneysand leaving her torso distorted.
At 19, Ms. Maruka-Lorandecided she had to have correc-tive surgery.
“It’s time,” she recalled think-ing. “I have to have the surgery,no matter how dangerous it is.”
Without surgery, sheexplained, she would have facedlife in a wheelchair by the timeshe was 30, and would be unableto have children. With the sur-gery, she risked paralysis.
Ms. Maruka-Loran attributesher successful surgery to being inshape — she regularly workedout until the day of the surgery,she said, which allowed doctorsto get a better correction. Herspine now has a 25-degree curve.
Ms. Maruka-Loran has a rodin her back that goes from herneck to her waist, she said.
“I am in pain now as anadult,” she said, but “I am ingreat shape.”
Staying in shape and exercis-ing helps with pain, and alsoallowed her to have a naturalchildbirth, though doctors hadsaid a C-section would be neces-sary, Ms. Maruka-Loran said.
About one and one-half years
ago, Ms. Maruka-Loran felt itwas time to take her own experi-ence and use her knowledge toaid young girls with scoliosis.She founded Catch the Curve atthat time.
“We are dedicated to mini-mizing the emotional effects onteenage girls that are dealingwith scoliosis,” Ms. Maruka-Loran explained recently.
After a local daily newspaperran a feature story about Ms.Maruka-Loran’s life and experi-ences, she said, she was spurredto begin the nonprofit. Manypeople called her the day thestory came out, she said, who didnot even know she had scoliosis.
Among the calls were parentswhose daughters needed surgery
for scoliosis.“When I started hearing that,
I just remembered back [to] howmuch pain I was in emotionallyas a teenager, basically hiding itfrom the world,” Ms. Maruka-Loran said.
She recalled friends tellingher, “You have to have a founda-tion.”
Ms. Maruka-Loran is also theowner of Fashion Fix, which shedescribed as “a mobile shoppingand stylist business.”
She uses a Mercedes Sprintervan, customized with a dressingroom and all types of clothing,from black-tie garb to bathingsuits, as a mobile styling unit.
Currently, Ms. Maruka-Loran is the stylist for the E!Entertainment show“Jerseylicious,” and MissDelaware Kayla Martell.
Ms. Martell recently placed inthe top 10 in the Miss Americacompetition. She ran on theplatform of awareness for alope-cia areata, a disorder she has thatcauses a loss of hair.
“She’s such a spectacular per-son,” Ms. Maruka Loran said, ofMs. Martell.
The two women’s stories aresimilar, she said.
“I suffered as a teenager, and Igot through it,” she said, likingher experience to Ms. Martell’s,with alopecia areata.
Ms. Maruka-Loran’s profes-sional life now intermingles withher nonprofit.
Fashion Fix donates clothingto Catch the Curve, and Ms.Maruka-Loran gives makeoversto girls with scoliosis. That, shesaid, provides a much-neededconfidence boost to scoliosispatients during their difficultteenage years.
“It’s just amazing how I’vetouched their lives now,” shesaid.
Ms. Maruka-Loran oftenspeaks with girls on the phone,she said, working them throughthe difficulties of having scolio-sis.
“I just feel like it’s my obliga-tion,” she explained.
Several events are planned forCatch the Curve in the future,including a fashion show inOctober, and Ms. Maruka-Loran is seeking the help oflocals through volunteer time ordonations to the foundation.
For more information aboutthe foundation, visit itsFacebook page by searching“CatchtheCurve.org.” A websitefor the foundation is in theworks. For more informationabout Fashion Fix, visitwww.fashionfixnj.com.
Ms. Maruka-Loran can bereached at 732-233-3129, or viae-mail [email protected].
Anyone interested in makinga donation to the foundation isasked to contact ConcettaAlvarez at 732-546-0344, or viae-mail [email protected].
THE COAST STAR, THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2011PAGE 22
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Wall woman aids teenage girls with scoliosis“We [Catch the
Curve] are dedicatedto minimizing the
emotional effects onteenage girls that
are dealing with scoliosis.”— Christie Maruka-LoranCatch the Curve founder
Photo courtesy of CHRISTIE MARUKA-LORANWall Township resident Christie Maruka-Loran is the owner
of Fashion Fix, a styling company which operates out of a cus-tom Mercedes van. Ms. Maruka-Loran is the founder of thenonprofit Catch the Curve, which is dedicated to providingsupport — and makeovers — to teenage girls with scoliosis.
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