Jenna Barbarisi is an active, funny, bright girl, who will be in the sixth grade at Dutemple Elementary in the fall.

She lived a relatively normal life with her parents Laurie and Rob, older brother Josh and twin brother Jonathan until March 13, 2013, when at a pediatrician’s appointment she was diagnosed with scoliosis.

“We had noticed her right shoulder blade had started to protrude around New Year’s,” said Laurie Bussman. “We had a pretty good idea of what it was.”

Jenna’s world was turned upside down in a matter of seconds. All her favorite activities – including gymnastics, swimming and riding her bike – were taken away, and she was going to miss the last several weeks of school.

The pediatrician referred them to an orthopedist who specialized in scoliosis.

Scoliosis affects 2 to 3 percent of the population, or an estimated 6 million people in the United States. There is no cure. Scoliosis impacts infants, adolescents and adults worldwide.

Dr. Craig Eberson at University Orthopedics saw Jenna on April 29 and ordered X-rays for a brace that she was supposed to wear 20 hours a day.

“The braces are made specifically for each patient, and their body size and curves,” said Bussman.

Jenna was very self-conscious about the brace, and refused to wear it. It was a battle to get her to wear it even at home.

“She would go to bed with it on, then wake up without it. When I asked her what happened, she truly had no recollection of taking it off during the night,” Bussman said.

Jenna did not want her friends at school to know, so it was kept a secret from her classmates, and only a handful of adults at the school knew what was going on.

By October 2013, the curve had gotten worse, and she had developed a hump on the lower left side of her back. The doctor told her she needed to wear the brace religiously for four months or he would have to perform surgery.

Each year, scoliosis patients make more than 600,000 visits to private physician offices, and an estimated 30,000 children are put into a brace for scoliosis, while 38,000 patients undergo spinal fusion surgery.

Jenna was going to follow the doctor’s orders, but an unfortunate incident made her refuse to wear it at all.

She suffered with constant pain in her back.

“There was lots of Tylenol,” Bussman said.

When Jenna returned to Dr. Eberson’s office on Feb. 10, her back had taken on an “S” curvature, meaning the spine was totally curved and surgery was her only option.

Surgery is performed when the spine curves at 50 degrees or more. Jenna’s spine was curved 67 degrees on the top and 57 degrees on the bottom. When Jenna saw the X-ray of her spine, she burst into tears and said, “When’s surgery?”

With her surgery set for May 27, Jenna decided to keep a diary of what was going on.

“I felt sad. I was leaving school, I was going to miss my friends,” she said.

Jenna’s last day of school was May 23, and with assistance from her teacher, Ms. Alyssa Colby, Jenna spoke to her classmates about what was going on.

“I explained what scoliosis was, how bad my back was and they asked lots of questions,” Jenna said.

Before she went to the hospital, the students had made a special book for Jenna with their photographs in it and special messages of hope, support and get-well wishes.

“We were on an emotional roller coaster, I was scared to death,” Bussman said. “I knew in my head that the surgery was necessary, but the thought of a six-hour procedure and the amount of pain she would be in after was heartbreaking.”

Jenna, ever the trooper, was pragmatic about it.

“I wasn’t nervous really until the night before. I slept curled up in a ball while I could. I knew it would be a long time till I could do it again,” she said.

Surgery was scheduled for 8 a.m. Jenna arrived at 6:30, and wanted to get it over with.

“My dad [Rob Barbarisi] came with me to the anesthesia part, and stayed until I was out,” she said.

Laurie was impressed and grateful to the nursing staff.

“They came out every two hours to give me an update. Towards the end of the procedure, when they had put the screws and rods in her back, they had to wake her up so she could move her legs and toes to make sure there was no paralysis,” she said.

Jenna’s X-ray showed 26 screws and two rods were now fused into her spine.

The actual procedure consisted of fusing her spine from the T2 to the L4 thoracic to lumbar, from her shoulder blade down to the coccyx bone. She was closed with special medical glue, no staples or stitches.

Jenna’s godmother, Wendy Gongoleski, stayed with Bussman and her dad the whole time. Other waiters included brother Josh, Bussman’s sister Sue and Nicole and Patti Dufour, members of a scoliosis support group called Curvy Girls. Nicole had had a spinal fusion procedure herself two and a half years ago.

Jenna stayed in the hospital for four days. Surgery was on Monday, by Wednesday she stood up from her bed and went into a chair. On Thursday, she walked to the nurses’ station.

“There were no restrictions on how much or how far she could walk,” Bussman said.

However, sitting in a chair was very uncomfortable for Jenna’s back.

“I wanted to go back to bed, so I could lay on my side. I jumped out of the chair to show the doctor I could move,” Jenna said. She went back to bed.

Jenna was released from the hospital that Saturday.

“We really weren’t prepared for her to come home,” said Bussman.

They had to get extra pillows and a recliner for her.

Jenna was on pain medication every four hours on that first weekend home. After that, it was pretty much as needed. By that Tuesday, Jenna wanted to get out of the house. She and Bussman walked the two blocks from their house to Dutemple, so Jenna could see the school’s field day.

“It was the farthest she had walked,” said Bussman, knowing she would be tired after.

What happened next happened so fast, and so unexpectedly, no one saw it coming.

“Everything turned purple. I couldn’t talk,” Jenna said.

Her color had turned green. Luckily, school Principal Beth Basile was close by, saw Jenna and drove the girls home.

The doctor has been amazed by her recovery progress. On June 9, he gave her permission to walk as much and as far as possible, as well as swimming.

Gymnastics has to be given up forever, as she can no longer bend backwards.

The hardest part of the whole ordeal for Jenna was missing her friends and school.

Jenna and her mom both credit Curvy Girls with giving Jenna much needed support and encouragement.

“I found out about the scoliosis support group in an article in the Providence Journal,” Bussman said.

The group is made up of girls who all have or had similar spinal issues. Coincidentally, all the girls have Dr. Eberson. The group ranges in age from 7 to 19. All the girls live in Rhode Island.

On Monday, July 14, Jenna got the news she had been waiting for the longest – she was cleared to ride her bike.

Jenna is proud of the scar that runs the entire length of her back. “I love it. I overcame an obstacle, and I don’t want to cover it up,” she said.

For more information about the group, check out www.curvygirlsscoliosis.com/groups/rhodeisland.html.