Kelly Stafford Says Doctor Sent By God Saved Her Hearing In Brain Surgery

Had it not been for a surgeon sent by God, and his "dream team" of doctors, Kelly Stafford says she might have lost her hearing forever. Fortunately, she was in the right hands during her recent surgery to remove a benign tumor in her brain. 

The wife of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, Kelly shared another update Tuesday via Instagram on her recovery from acoustic neuroma. She praised Dr. Thompson from the University of Michigan Hospital for overcoming a complication in her surgery. It lasted twice as long as it was supposed to. 

"When he opened me up, he saw an "anomalous" artery that is normally not there," Kelly wrote on Instagram. "In his 2000 cases, he had seen it ONE other time. BUT (because) it was so rare, he & his team wrote a paper on it for other surgeons. Then, God sent him me & although surprised when he cut in to see the artery, he was confident & prepared. He took his time & was patient. There was a moment when they thought I might have lost my hearing completely. He made everyone & everything stop, they all sat, & waited for some time.. the audio wave returned. His patience saved my hearing, as well as my face. You read right, he PRESERVED MY HEARING! Matthew said when Dr. Thompson came up to give him the run down, he was excited for how well it went & that it was a total "team victory" for which they hugged it out for a while." 

I honestly don't know where to start. This is him, the man God chose to remove my brain tumor. After my diagnosis, Matthew and I visited doctors all over the US. He made it a super easy decision after we met Dr. Thompson @ the U of M hospital. Dr. Thompson not only had done about 2000 acoustic neuroma cases & had published outstanding results when attempting to preserve facial & hearing function w/ the surgery, but....when I spoke w/ him, he reminded me of my dad. He truly cared & was empathetic, which meant so much to me. The 6 hr surgery turned to 8, then 10, then 12 hrs & he was constantly updating Matthew throughout. When he opened me up, he saw an "anomalous" artery that is normally not there. In his 2000 cases, he had seen it ONE other time. BUT bc it was so rare, he & his team wrote a paper on it for other surgeons. Then, God sent him me & although surprised when he cut in to see the artery, he was confident & prepared. He took his time & was patient. There was a moment when they thought I might have lost my hearing completely. He made everyone & everything stop, they all sat, & waited for some time.. the audio wave returned. His patience saved my hearing, as well as my face. You read right, he PRESERVED MY HEARING! Matthew said when Dr. Thompson came up to give him the run down, he was excited for how well it went & that it was a total "team victory" for which they hugged it out for a while. He kept giving credit to his team which included, Dr. Telian (ENT), Dr. Joseph (neuro chief resident) Dr. Welch (ENT Fellow) & Jane (Dr. Thompson's NP). This team is my dream team.. like the '92 bulls with DR. Thompson as my MJ & Dr. Telian, my Scottie pippen.. MVP's of their craft. After the surgery, Dr. Thompson visited every day. When I ended up back in the hospital, he drove an hour from Ann Arbor to the hospital where I was to physically put eyes on me & make sure I was ok. His NP said he is like that for all his patients.. I mean how amazing is that? I will forever be in debt to this man & his team. I can't express how grateful I am for him.. his kindness, empathy, patience, knowledge, & steady hands. Thank u Dr. Thompson, thank u so much to u & your team.

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on May 7, 2019 at 6:07am PDT

The surgery occurred about three weeks ago. Kelly has since returned home and is recovering well. 

In an update last weekend, she said she is off her pain medicine and enjoying time with her three young children. 

Day 14 post op. I've been off steroids for two days now. Feels good to be off of those meds. A few Tylenol's here and there, but that's it. I have realized my mornings are better than my afternoons so I have been trying to take advantage. I try to get out of the house, do a "balance driven" workout, and do my brain exercises.. that takes about an hour and honestly, after that, I'm exhausted. The rest of my day is spent on the couch and WITH MY KIDS -- which I can't describe how grateful I am that they are back. That's where I'm at and although it's hard as hell to feel lazy all afternoon, it's what my mind and body are calling for right now. Knowing each day my energy, balance, dizziness and nausea will get better so always looking forward to tomorrow. #braintumorawarenessmonth #anwarrior Also shoutout to my mom. She's the real mvp.

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on May 2, 2019 at 2:33pm PDT

Matthew Stafford has been at Kelly's side throughout the ordeal. At the same time, he has been present for the Lions' voluntary offseason workouts.