Kelly Stafford's recovery hits a snag, sending her back to hospital

Justin Rogers
The Detroit News
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford reportedly returned to work Monday, about a week after his wife, Kelly, had surgery on to remove a tumor from her brain.

Allen Park — Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, is back in the hospital, following last week's surgery to remove a brain tumor. 

Kelly Stafford provided an update on Instagram, noting the re-hospitalization resulted from trying to prematurely ween herself off steroids. 

"I thought I could do it," she wrote. " 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," she continued. "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."

Stafford said she'll be held overnight for observation and is hoping to go home Thursday morning.

Last Wednesday, Stafford had surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma, a non-cancerous brain tumor that can impact balance and hearing. The scheduled six-hour procedure turned into one twice as long due to an abnormal vein, she posted on social media over the weekend. 

On Tuesday, she provided an update on some of her initial post-surgery struggles, including a desire to limit her reliance on medication.  

"Sitting in this dark room in pain, but trying to hold off on the meds because I want to see my kids," she posted on Instagram. "I want to be coherent in the moment. Tomorrow, it'll have been a whole week that I haven't seen them and my heart aches. Balancing, in general, is incredibly hard right now. Balancing kids and brain surgery is nearly impossible." 

It had been Wednesday morning that Matthew Stafford had returned to work earlier this week, arriving Monday to take part in Phase I of the team's offseason program. 

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers