Wife of Lions QB Matthew Stafford Says She’s Having Brain Surgery to Remove Tumor

Wife of Lions QB Matthew Stafford Says She’s Having Brain Surgery to Remove Tumor
Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions warms up before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Dec. 30, 2018. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford announced that she will have surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Kelly Stafford took to Instagram to share the news, along with a picture.

“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,” Stafford wrote.

She said that in the last 12 months she began to notice problems such as feeling dizzy after dancing with her children.

View this post on Instagram

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.

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on

“Things that I had been doing my entire life were now, all of a sudden, difficult,” Stafford wrote. In January, she experienced a spell of vertigo. Then, the spells kept coming until one day she became dizzy while she was holding her son, prompting her husband to rush her to the emergency room.

Doctors couldn’t find any problems, but when Stafford kept experiencing spells of vertigo, the Lions team doctor recommended she get an MRI of her brain.

The MRI revealed a brain tumor described by Stafford as acoustic neuroma, or vestibular schwannoma.

The tumor’s “a noncancerous and usually slow-growing tumor that develops on the main (vestibular) nerve leading from your inner ear to your brain,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

brain with tumor
An illustration showing a brain with a tumor. (National Science Foundation)

“Branches of this nerve directly influence your balance and hearing, and pressure from an acoustic neuroma can cause hearing loss, ringing in your ear and unsteadiness. Acoustic neuroma usually arises from the Schwann cells covering this nerve and grows slowly or not at all,” it added.

“Rarely, it may grow rapidly and become large enough to press against the brain and interfere with vital functions. Treatments for acoustic neuroma include regular monitoring, radiation, and surgical removal.”

Stafford shared about her experience when she was first hit with the news.

“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,” she said.

View this post on Instagram

Being the #1 man in four girls’ lives can be exhausting.. but you make it look easy and I’m so grateful for that!!

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on

“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.”

Stafford said that she expected to undergo surgery in about two weeks and asked for prayers for her and her family to be calm in the days leading up the surgery and to help the doctors perform the procedure.

“Please pray for Matthew as I know his nerves will be high during this surgery,” she added.

Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft, has not commented publicly on his wife’s tumor and surgery.

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