Otolaryngologist (huh?)...aka My Doctor for my Lymphatic Malformation

Next to my family, this man is probably the most important

person in my life...Dr. Joseph L. Edmonds, Jr. Or, as we call him, "Dr. Joe".

I have to admit, my memory of time spent with him is limited, because the majority of that time, I was pretty young. But, I do have some significant memories, the biggest being my tongue reduction surgery in 2015. But with all the talks I've had with my parents, I do realize the impact he has had in my life and for that, I am so extremely grateful. By the way, my parents have been super open with me about each surgery and procedure I have had and explained it all to me!

It's funny to think about being a doctor. What I mean is, to him, I am another patient. And while I know he cares deeply for me and all his patients, I am pretty sure he doesn't look at me the way I look at him. I mean, he is the reason my life is the way it is...like, in a good way! Without him, I would be WAY worse off. It's just a crazy thought.

This is from my Dad:

We met Joe after Zachary's first surgery at just 16 days old. The pediatric surgeon that examined Zachary after he was born did that surgery, which involved draining a cyst of blood from his neck. Luckily, that was just a small incision and didn't even require stitches, he just packed it with gauze. While Zachary was in ICU, we begged that surgeon to give us some clue as to what Zachary had, since we had no information to that point, other than we knew it wasn't a tumor.