My name is Aimi. Aimi Katherine Jackson is my full name; and I am 9 years old. I have short, wavy medium-brown hair and brown eyes, and I happen to be facially disfigured (in which I will talk about shortly).
I am a normal little girl in a lot of ways, but in a way I am not. Take a look at me, and you will immediately see why. (I have a very noticeable facial deformity which has deformed my face, and I have a trache to breathe.) I was born this way.
Because of my face, I have been teased; and I don't have very many friends. The only friends I have are my toys; and I don't like going outside all that much, for fear that other kids will make fun of me.
I have something called "cystic hygroma", which simply means I have facial tumors. These tumors have distorted my face, and they are located in such a way that they are inoperable; and they have distorted my appearance on the one side. I was born with this problem. And my problem is quite rare; not very many people have it. Basically, I resemble a real-life Cabbage Patch doll. I also have a trache because the tumors blocked my breathing passages when I was born, and I breathe through a hole in my throat. But I can still talk and eat despite it; the only thing is I get out of breath kind of easy, and I have to be suctioned every so often, which can get rather uncomfortable. And I am prone to colds and other respiratory illnesses; so during cold and flu season I don't get out much. It's too risky for my breathing.
Anyways, what I have ISN'T catching. That is, you can't get cystic hygroma like you can a cold or the flu; but because of it my life isn't like most kids'. And I am teased because of my face, which makes me sad; but then I started going to a camp for kids with facial deformities; and I have found out that I am not alone; and I have made friends there; but then my dad got transferred here to Tennessee, on account of his job; and now I don't have very many in the way of friends. (I was born in Cleveland, Ohio.) I have MAYBE 3 friends..and I just met them before Christmas break. Gemini, Johnny, and Ronee' are their names; and they are siblings.
But I still don't like being teased. Kids have called me "Mumpy", "Monster Face", "Cabbage Patch Aimi", or "Fat Cheeks"; and I get sad when they tease me. It's like all they see is my face, and they don't want to take the time to get to know me. They don't want to see that, despite my face, I am just like them, and they don't want to try to make friends with me because of my face. They just see my face, and nothing else. And that really hurts.
Despite my cystic hygroma and despite my trache, I am just like any other kid. I like to draw, read, write stories and poems, ride my horse, "Buttercup", and play with my little baby brother, T.J. I also like to listen to Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. But other kids have to learn to accept me for WHO I am INSIDE, not what I happen to look like outside. That is my dearest wish!! If only kids can look beyond my facial handicaps, then the world would be a much nicer place, don't you think??
isn't it terrible when someone doesn't fit the "norm," they are teased? what's "normal," anyway? we all have something wrong...this is a heartbreaking, but well written, write. (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
