Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, is back at home with her husband, kids, and supportive family. While she is still very much on the road to recovery, on Tuesday morning, she shared more details about her complicated brain surgery, which could have resulted in some serious complications.
“The 6 hr surgery turned to 8, then 10, then 12 hrs & he was constantly updating Matthew throughout,” Kelly wrote. “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.”
But even with that extremely fortunate bit of luck, Kelly’s surgery did not come without its obstacles. At one point, doctors were concerned she may lose her hearing permanently, but the head surgeon, Dr. Thompson of the University of Michigan hospital, eased the team through the moment and were able to save it.
“There was a moment when they thought I might have lost my hearing completely,” Kelly wrote. “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!”
But it wasn’t just Dr. Thompson, according to Kelly. She got a “dream team” of surgeons:
“(Dr. Thompson) 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),” Kelly wrote. “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.”
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