It turns out the Stafford family eluded more than one tragedy when Kelly, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, underwent a 12-hour surgery for a brain tumor in April.
As Kelly shared on Instagram this week, University of Michigan surgeon Dr. B. Gregory Thompson didn't just remove the tumor the family first told the public about in early April. He also discovered an anomalous artery. His patience to work around the complication ended up saving Kelly's hearing.
"The six-hour surgery turned to eight, then 10, then 12 hours, and he was constantly updating Matthew throughout," Kelly wrote on Instagram. "When he opened me up, he saw an anomalous artery that is normally not there. In his 2,000 cases, he had seen it one other time... there was a moment when they thought I might have lost my hearing completely. (The doctor) made everyone and everything stop, they all sat and waited for some time (and) the audio wave returned. His patience saved my hearing, as well as my face."
The surgery was a "total team victory," Kelly continued, saying that her surgeon "hugged it out for a while" with Matthew, the Lions' former Pro Bowler, upon reviewing the successful operation.
"This team is my dream team," she wrote, "like the '92 Bulls with Dr. Thompson as my MJ and Dr. Telian my Scottie Pippen."
The Staffords initially sought help for Kelly in January, when she began experiencing dizziness and vertigo. After following recommendations for an MRI by Lions team doctors, her brain tumor was discovered. At the time, the testing revealed an acoustic neuroma, or a benign tumor, resting on Kelly's cranial nerves.
Shortly after Kelly underwent her surgery, Stafford was told by the Lions he could take as much time off as necessary this offseason but was reportedly back at the facility preparing for the 2019 season after spending a few days alongside Kelly in the hospital.