Jim Kelly successfully undergoes 12-hour surgery to remove cancer, reconstruct jaw
The Hall of Famer is entering a significant time of recovery, according to his wife
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On March 1, Hall of Fame Bills quarterback Jim Kelly announced that his cancer, which had been gone for more than three years, had returned. On Thursday, good news arrived.
According to ESPN's Mike Rodak, Kelly successfully underwent a 12-hour surgery on Wednesday that removed the oral cancer as well as reconstructed his upper jaw. Kelly, 58, will remain in the hospital for two weeks before being screened three months from now.
"We successfully removed Mr. Kelly's cancer from his upper jaw and lymph nodes from his neck," Dr. Mark Urken, head and neck surgeon at Mount Sinai West, said in a statement, via ESPN. "We then reconstructed his upper jaw. Mr. Kelly is resting comfortably post-operatively."
In an Instagram post, Kelly's wife, Jill, thanked the doctors and nurses and noted that her husband is entering a "very significant time of recovery."
"During pre-op the computer in our section wasn't working so they had to get a new one," Jill Kelly wrote. "Then Jim says to me, 'Did you see the computer? You should take a picture.' And so I did! As silly as it sounds, God gave us the #12 computer. And almost 12 hours of surgery later ... #12 is now on the road to recovery."
Kelly, whose battle against cancer began in 2013, quarterbacked the Bills from 1986 to 1996. In his career, he threw for 35,467 yards and 237 touchdowns, and led the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances. In 2002, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Most importantly, he's already beaten cancer twice. Hopefully, he can beat it for a third time.
