‘I had to choose between my face, and keeping my voice’
A man with a rare genetic condition has revealed how he had to make a choice between his voice or his face.
Zackery Brown has cystic hygromas, which are fluid-filled cysts that appear on a person’s head or neck.
Speaking to truly, Brown explained that his condition is a genetic disorder that causes “non-cancer tumours that can be located in the neck, in the face or in the tongue.”
Because of his condition the 28-year-old from Tennessee suffered from confidence issues growing up, with his parents sheltering him from the outside world in an attempt to protect him from bullies.
As an escape, Brown turned to gaming – but when his dad fell ill he had to look after him and this proved to be a turning point.
He went out and looked for work, meeting new people and started working out – all of which helped get rid of his feelings of self-doubt.
He had considered surgery in the past to get rid of the cysts – but this would have taken its toll on his voice.
For Zackery, it was a simple decision.
He explained: “I sat down in the doctor’s office and I told him, I said, ‘If you can give me a choice between cosmetic looks or the voice, I would choose the voice.’
“I don’t care about cosmetics so much as I did the voice.
“I went thinking that it could make my voice better but they told me it would make it worse. I had to choose between my face, and keeping my voice.”
The doctors told him that if they operated on his jaw, it would make his voice worse because it would force his tongue back more.
Zackery decided this was not a price he was willing to pay, so he “didn’t pursue” it anymore, instead choosing to be “happy with how I am.”
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