Matthew Stafford’s wife plans surgery for brain tumor

Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, is planning to undergo surgery for a brain tumor she was diagnosed with in January.

The onetime Georgia Bulldogs cheerleader asked for prayers in an Instagram post where she announced she has an acoustic neuroma — or a benign tumor — resting on her cranial nerves.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely terrified of brain surgery," she wrote in an Instagram post. "I am."

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This is a picture of Matthew & I the day we found out. I said I wanted this picture of us, so that the day this was all over, we could look back at this photo & remember. Within the last year, I began to notice things that I thought was just me getting older.. I would show my girls how to do a front roll or twirl in ballet class and immediately feel dizzy & off balance... Things that I had been doing my entire life were now, all of a sudden, difficult. The beginning of Jan was when I experienced my first spell of vertigo..It kept happening & then it happened while I was holding Hunter. Matthew took me straight to the ER. They checked vitals & bloodwork, all were fine.. Several vertigo spells later, Matthew’s team doctor recommended we go get an MRI of my brain to rule everything major out. 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 & 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. 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. 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. I couldn’t imagine being out in that waiting room. Thank u. Thank u for reading this novel. thank u for all your support and most importantly, thank u for your prayers.

A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on Apr 3, 2019 at 7:27am PDT

The Staffords met as undergrads at Georgia and wed in 2015. They are good friends of Matt Ryan and his wife, Sarah.

Former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford returned to Sanford Stadium with his fiancee, Kelly Hall, for their engagement photos. The couple, who have been together for six years, are to marry in April. More images available at Vue Photography

He was the top overall NFL draft pick in 2009 by the Detroit Lions out of Georgia. The quarterback signed a five-year, $135-million contract extension with the Lions in 2017.

The couple have three children, twin girls, Sawyer and Chandler, who were born in 2017, and a daughter, Hunter, who was born in August.