Kelly Stafford credits ‘Dream Team’ of doctors with saving her hearing

Kelly Stafford praised her “Dream Team” of doctors at the University of Michigan with saving her hearing during a 12-hour surgery last month to remove a brain tumor.

In an Instragram update posted Tuesday, the wife of former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford says Dr. B. Gregory Thompson and his team exercised extreme caution and skill in preserving her facial and hearing function.

“His patience saved my hearing, as well as my face. You read right, he PRESERVED MY HEARING!” she wrote.

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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

Stafford last month endured a 12-hour procedure to remove an acoustic neuroma. The surgery took longer than expected after her surgeon, Dr. Thompson, discovered an abnormal vein.

She suffered a setback that had her back in the hospital last week. Dr. Thompson checked in on her then, too.

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.

Matthew Stafford has not commented on his wife’s health, but has taken part in Detroit’s offseason training program.