Matthew Stafford’s Wife Kelly Shares Message of ‘Gratitude’ Following Brain Tumor Reveal

The wife of Detroit Lions quarterback, Matthew Stafford, is overwhelmed by the support and love she has received in the days since revealing she would undergo surgery for a recently diagnosed brain tumor.

Stafford’s wife, Kelly, took to Instagram on Friday to share with fans and followers how “grateful” she has been of the kind words shared with her from across the country and around the world.

“There are honestly no words for what I have felt in the past few days,” Kelly wrote alongside two snapshots — one of her husband, Stafford, with their three children and another of the couple smiling for the camera.

“I am beyond grateful and just want to thank everyone who has reached out with their support and especially with prayers for me and my family in these past few days,” she added. “The ability to connect and support each other is what makes social media such an amazing thing. I truly am beyond grateful. I am going to take some time away from social media so that I can focus on what’s most important in life.. My family.”

Kelly went on to thank everyone for their support and prayers, writing, “it means more than you will ever know.”

The 31-year-old mom shared with fans on Wednesday in a social media post that she is planning to undergo surgery for a brain tumor known as acoustic neuroma. According to the Mayo Clinic, treatment for an acoustic neuroma might include monitoring, therapy or surgery, which is most often “performed under general anesthesia and involves removing the tumor through the inner ear or through a window in” the patient’s skull.

However, in some cases, the entire tumor may not be removed if it is too close to important parts of the brain or facial nerve. Complications from the surgery could include facial numbness, balance problems, hearing loss and stroke. However, doctors have since said her prognosis can be treated with an excellent outcome.

In her initial post, Kelly revealed how within the last year, she began to “notice things” concerning her health but likened it all to age. However, when she would spend time with their children and show them how to do front rolls or twirls in ballet class, she would “feel dizzy” or “off balance.”

It was the beginning of January when she first experienced a vertigo spell that pushed her into the ER — something that she adds “kept happening,” even when she held their children. Kelly wrote that it was just a few days later that they were hit with the results.

“I had a tumor sitting on some of my cranial nerves,” she wrote in the post. “The medical term they used was an acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma. All I heard was brain tumor [and] that they had to do surgery to take it out.. so that is what we are going to do [and] we believe we found the best doctor to do it.”

Kelly shares her honesty in being “terrified” of the surgery, adding how [she’d] “be lying if I said I wasn’t completely terrified of brain surgery.”

“I am terrified of them opening my head, I’m terrified of losing my hearing, I’m terrified of losing facial function, I’m terrified of far worse things that could happen and I’m terrified that I won’t take the time I need to recover because the guilt I might feel of being absent from my kids for too long.. I am telling y’all this to ask for prayers and support.”

Stafford and her quarterback playing husband began dating as undergraduate students at Georgia and wed in 2015. They share three children together, which includes twin girls, Sawyer and Chandler born in 2017 and daughter Hunter, born August 2018.

Photo credit: Instagram / @kbstafford89