My name is Aimi Jackson, and I am 9 years old. I was born with cystic hygroma, which has distorted (changed) my face. Because of this my face looks different.
I was born with tumors in my lower jaw, and they are unable to be removed because of their location. Trying to remove them would be dangerous for me. These tumors also obstructed my breathing when I was born, and because of it I had to have a tracheostomy so I could breathe.
The condition I have is rare; and it is called "cystic hygroma", as I just mentioned. Not many people know of it, and not many people have heard of it. The cause of my disease is not known, but it IS serious. And I have to learn to live with it, let alone, learn to live with having people stare at me or make comments about my funny-looking face and my trache tube.
Because of my CH, I often feel strange because I don't know of other people who have it, and I feel like I'm the only person in the world who has it. I also don't have very many friends at school, and I often get teased. They call me "Cabbage Patch Aimi", "Chipmunk Cheeks", "Fatty Face", and other nasty names, and I sometimes get so sad I go home from school in tears. There's been many days where I've come off the bus, crying.
It doesn't help that I just moved here to Nashville, Tennesssee, from Dallas, Texas. I hardly know anyone at my school, and the kids also make fun of my Texas accent BESIDES my face. My dad got a job promotion, and because of it we moved to Tennessee from Texas. So I now live in Tennessee, in Nashville, and I HATE it. It's too COLD, for one thing!!
And I miss my friends back in Texas, especially Monet. Monet NEVER made fun of me, and she always told me the greatest jokes! Like the one about the cow with two legs. (What do you get when you have a cow that has two legs? Answer? Lean beef!! FUNNEEEE!!!! :) )
Edie Batstone's first book of colourful picture poems invites us to jump into a child's world of wonder and possibility, just as a child jumps into a puddle - knowing only that it seems like a good idea at the time! Join her on this journey of disco
