Kelly Stafford suffers setback after brain tumor surgery - Atlanta Journal Constitution

April 29, 2019 at 07:17AM

The wife of Detroit Lions and former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford has posted several status updates on Instagram, announcing she had been hospitalized and forced to spend time away from her three daughters.

"Can't sleep. Sitting here, listening to these hospital beeps, wide eyed ... and I'm MISSING my people. I've seen them once since surgery and it was hard."

She explained that, following her 12-hour surgery, she is having to "relearn the basics of being an athlete."

"When they took out the tumor, they also wiped out the entire balance system on my right side" Stafford wrote on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

I'm home. I'm home and I got to spend a few hours with my little humans. It filled my heart so much. I can't even describe it. I wish they could stay, but I know I'm not ready for all of it. When they took out the tumor, they also wiped out the entire balance system on my right side. I wish I could explain it, but I think it's something you have to experience. I can't turn my head right without feeling college drunk.. I'm talking end of the night, cant put one foot in front of the other, knowing you'll be sleeping on the bathroom floor, college drunk. I have to rework my brain to know that it can only rely on my left side, which will take time, a good amount of time. And when there are two toddlers running below your feet while you are trying to relearn basic things like walking.. it makes it seem like there are a million more moving parts to it.. maybe because there are. It's tough to go from a very active woman to having to relearn the basics of being an athlete, but these little girls give me so much strength. I want to be able to teach them every sport I learned and the day they beat me (I'm sure it'll come fast) .. I'll humble them by reminding them I'm only working with one side of my brain ???? I miss them. I miss them so much, but I'm so grateful I got that time today and now I have my inspiration to keep on pushing!

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on Apr 26, 2019 at 1:03pm PDT

Kelly and the Matthew Stafford have three daughters. They started dating at Georgia where she was a cheerleader and he was the star of the football team. They married in 2015. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL draft and has spent his entire career with the Lions.

Stafford's final post relished her being able to hold her daughters.

"I miss them so much, but I'm so grateful I got that time today and now I have my inspiration to keep on pushing!"

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