A girl born with a giant cyst on her arm is not letting her condition get the better of her.
Two-year-old Jessi Campbell from Brisbane was born on August 28, 2021, with a lymphatic malformation on the left side of his body that doctors later diagnosed as Kippel Trelauney syndrome when he was 11 months old.
Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is a rare disease that causes excessive growth of soft tissues and bones that has caused the development of the one-kilogram cyst.
Jessi’s parents, Amara and Jonathan Campbell, fear their daughter will be bullied for her condition when she finally starts school.
Campbell, 34, said she had already heard strangers call Jessi’s growth “disgusting,” but that she and Campbell simply remind her daughter that she is “beautiful.”
Campbell, 35, also heard similar unpleasant comments and noticed that “there are always people looking at his hand.”
Jessi Campbell was born on August 28, 2021 with a lymphatic malformation that caused a one-kilogram mass to develop on the left side of her body.
Jessi, now two years old, is still undergoing treatment for her condition which doctors diagnosed as Kippel Trelauney syndrome when she was 11 months old.
‘The children started pointing at her. “We never told him anything bad about her arm, we didn’t act repulsed or anything,” she said.
Jessi’s parents hope her arm will have shrunk by the time she reaches school age.
“I remember at first they told us that his arm would look somewhat normal when he started school,” Mr. Campbell said.
“We look forward to seeing that progress.”
Campbell has been at Brisbane Children’s Hospital for two and a half years with Jessi as doctors work to slow the growth.
He has been documenting Jessi’s journey through a GoFundMe page where people can help give your daughter a normal life.
The money raised will go towards Jessi’s ongoing medical expenses and personalized clothing.
Her mother Amara, 34, is a housewife and takes care of Jessi and tells her that she is beautiful.
Mrs Campbell and her husband Jonathan are afraid their daughter will be bullied because of her condition.
Jessi’s growth became so heavy that her spine began to curve by the time she turned two.
Until now it has suffered Three rounds of sclerotherapy in which doctors inject a solution into the area causing the growth. collapse and shrink.
Jessi must undergo more rounds of therapy before any shrinkage becomes visible, but for now she is focusing on learning to walk.
Campbell said the weight of Jessi’s left arm changes “almost every day” as the fluid inside her moves, constantly throwing her off balance.
Doctors were able to diagnose Jessi with a lymphatic malformation while she was still in the womb during Ms Campbell’s 19-week scan.
When she was born, Jessi weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and bags of fluid covered her left arm, chest and hand.
Jessi still frequents Brisbane Children’s Hospital as doctors work to remove the mass which is becoming so heavy her spine is beginning to curve under the weight.
Campbell said that despite her condition, Jessi has no problem playing with her older sister Sophie.
“His bump was bigger than we expected,” Campbell said.
‘It was a shock. it was really purple [and] confronting I was afraid for her.’
Campbell was unable to see her daughter for three days after losing three liters of blood during childbirth and Jessi remained in Mater Children’s Hospital for 10 days before she was finally able to return home.
“All the baby clothes we had didn’t fit and we had to get him custom-made clothes,” Mrs Campbell said.
Despite this, the condition has not stopped Jessi from playing with her sister even as she continues to struggle with balance.
‘It took him a while to find a balance to walk… [but] yes“He’s so stubborn that she’ll do anything,” Mrs. Campbell said.
To help improve Jessi’s mobility, Ms. Campbell said she is undergoing hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell hope doctors can fix Jessi’s arm when she goes to school.
Campbell has been documenting Jessi’s medical journey through GoFundMe and is using the funds raised to pay for her medical bills and custom clothing.