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Detroit Lions quarterback’s wife shares news of brain tumor, surgery plans

Posted at 12:47 PM, Apr 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-03 12:47:51-04

DETROIT, Mich. – Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, announced Wednesday morning she has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Kelly Stafford made the announced on Instagram with a photo of her and her husband the day they received the news, as well as of the MRI showing the cause of her vertigo for the past few months.

In the post, Kelly said she thought the things she was struggling to do were merely symptomatic of aging, but when Stafford’s team doctor told her she should have an MRI done to “rule everything major out,” they discovered the growth on some of her cranial nerves.

Kelly goes on to describe her fears and ask for prayers, as she will be having surgery to remove the tumor in next couple of weeks.

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This is a picture of Matthew & I the day we found out. I said I wanted this picture of us, so that the day this was all over, we could look back at this photo & remember. Within the last year, I began to notice things that I thought was just me getting older.. I would show my girls how to do a front roll or twirl in ballet class and immediately feel dizzy & off balance… Things that I had been doing my entire life were now, all of a sudden, difficult. The beginning of Jan was when I experienced my first spell of vertigo..It kept happening & then it happened while I was holding Hunter. Matthew took me straight to the ER. They checked vitals & bloodwork, all were fine.. Several vertigo spells later, Matthew’s team doctor recommended we go get an MRI of my brain to rule everything major out. A few days later we were hit with the results. I had a tumor sitting on some of my cranial nerves. The medical term they used was an acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma.. All I heard was brain tumor & that they had to do surgery to take it out.. so that is what we are going to do & we believe we found the best doctor to do it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely terrified of brain surgery. I am. 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. Things to pray for: -calmness in these next 2 weeks as I know anxiety will run high in myself & my whole family leading up to the day of surgery. -that God be in the room with the surgeons & give them all the guidance, steadiness, & confidence they need. -my safety during and after surgery. -please pray for matthew as I know his nerves will be high during this surgery. I couldn’t imagine being out in that waiting room. Thank u. Thank u for reading this novel. thank u for all your support and most importantly, thank u for your prayers.

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