Matthew Stafford's wife Kelly announced on Wednesday she is undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor. Kelly Stafford said she experienced spells of vertigo in January and then underwent an MRI following advice from the Lions' team doctor. The results revealed a "tumor sitting on some of my cranial nerves," per Stafford. "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," Stafford wrote on Wednesday. The Staffords met while Matthew was a quarterback at Georgia. They got married in 2015, and had twin girls in 2017. Their third daughter was born in August 2018. Matthew Stafford has been Detroit's starting quarterback since being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in 2009 NFL draft. He has thrown for 38,526 yards and 237 touchdowns in 141 career games.<doc-sep>Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, announced Wednesday that she will undergo surgery this month for a brain tumor discovered earlier this year. She announced the diagnosis in a lengthy post on Instagram. She explained the process of what she and her husband went through, from her starting to feel dizzy to eventually getting the diagnosis from doctors. Kelly Stafford, who has 153,000 followers on Instagram, said it began with a bout of vertigo in January. The vertigo continued, and when she suffered a spell while she was holding the Staffords' third child, Hunter, they went to the emergency room and had bloodwork done. The bloodwork came back clear but the vertigo continued, so on the recommendation of a Lions team doctor, she had an MRI. The results showed she had an acoustic neuroma, which is a benign tumor, on her cranial nerves. Stafford, who said the prospect of brain surgery left her "completely terrified," asked for prayers for herself and her family. "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," she wrote. The Staffords have been active in the Detroit community since Matthew Stafford was drafted by the Lions with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft.<doc-sep>Rick Osentoski/Associated Press Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, announced Wednesday she will undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor. The tumor was discovered after the Lions' team doctor recommended an MRI following several instances of vertigo. She wrote in an Instagram post that over the past year, "Things that I had been doing my entire life were now, all of a sudden, difficult." The vertigo began in January, and she went for further testing when the dizzy spells continued: "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 and that they had to do surgery to take it out. So that is what we are going to do and 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." The Staffords have three children: Sawyer and Chandler, twin girls who were born in March 2017, and a third daughter, Hunter, born in August 2018. Video Play Button Videos you might like In November 2017, Matthew told Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated coming home to the twins after a loss helped him realize the potential of life outside of football. "That was one of the first times it clicked," he said. Kelly and Matthew met at the University of Georgia, where the quarterback played college football before getting selected by the Lions with the first overall pick in 2009. They married in 2015. In December, Stafford was named the Lions' nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for the family's charitable efforts in the Detroit community.<doc-sep>
The wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford announced on Instagram Wednesday she's been diagnosed with a brain tumor and will have surgery to remove it later this month. Kelly Stafford wrote in a lengthy post she began to notice something was off when she started to feel dizzy when showing her kids how to front roll or twirl in ballet and then had a vertigo spell in January. She said her initial bloodwork showed nothing wrong, but the Lions doctor recommended she get an MRI for her brain. ALL-PRO DEFENSIVE LINEMAN HALOTI NGATA ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM TOP OF MOUNT KILIMANJARO “A few days later we were hit with the results,” she wrote. “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.” Stafford wrote that she’s “terrified” and asked for prayers in her time of need. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “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.” Matthew and Kelly Stafford married in 2015 and have three daughters.