Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback and former UGA legend Matthew Stafford, has returned to the hospital in Michigan – just days after enduring brain surgery to remove a tumor.
Over the weekend, Kelly Stafford took part in a 12-hour operation to combat her bout with acoustic neuroma. The procedure had to be extended six hours, apparently due to an 'abnormal vein' in the vicinity of the tumor.
The reason for Stafford's mid-week return to the hospital? She has reportedly had difficulty getting weaned off the steroids and will be subject to observation, with the possible plan of returning home again Thursday.
Stafford recently posted an Instagram update, revealing her frustration with the first phase of recovery:
Here's the text of the post:
A little update:
I thought I could do it. They told me tapering off the steroids was going to be very difficult. The first picture was yesterday when I was on what I thought was my last day of steroids. I thought I could power through the pain and massive headaches that were challenging me throughout the day. I figured i could pull my strength from one of the strongest people I know, Matthew. I told myself the pain would succumb to me, I wouldn’t succumb to it.
I was so wrong. The pain got so far ahead of me I couldn’t keep anything down, including meds. I ended up in the ER very early this morning, back on steroids and pain medication. At first, I felt like I had failed, like I couldn’t handle it.. but what I really failed at was listening to my own body. A lesson I feel like I am going to have to keep reminding myself of.
Thank you again for everything. I just wanted to give a little update. They will keep me here overnight just to monitor in hopes of going home in the morning.
OTHER GEORGIA BULLDOGS NEWS
Back in January, Kelly Stafford learned a tumor was primarily responsible for her bouts of vertigo.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Stafford's bout with acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma was likely "a non-cancerous and usually slow-growing tumor that develops on the main (vestibular) nerve leading from your inner ear to your brain. Branches of this nerve directly influence your balance and hearing, and pressure from an acoustic neuroma can cause hearing loss, ringing in your ear and unsteadiness.
"Acoustic neuroma usually arises from the Schwann cells covering this nerve and grows slowly or not at all. Rarely, it may grow rapidly and become large enough to press against the brain and interfere with vital functions," according to the Mayo Clinic.