Kelly Stafford is grateful for her continued health after previously undergoing a risky brain surgery.
“Celebrating six years since my brain tumor removal at my favorite place on earth. #hallheaven,” Stafford, 35, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, April 17, sharing a selfie on the beach.
Several of Stafford’s loved ones and celebrity pals celebrated the milestone in the comments section.
“❤️🙏🏽,” sportscaster Charissa Thompson replied, while another follower wrote, “Moms all over love your spirit ❤️.”
Kelly, the wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, underwent brain surgery six months after daughter Hunter, now 6, was born. (The Staffords also share twins Sawyer and Chandler, both 7, and Tyler, 4.)
“Immediately, I was like, ‘Take it out,’ and Matthew was kind of against it,” Kelly recalled on a December 2024 episode of the “Absolutely Not” podcast. “He was like, ‘It’s a huge risk.’ There were risks going into it with my hearing and my facial nerves and balance, but he did an incredible job during that whole thing. I don’t think I would have gotten through it without him.”
After Kelly and Matthew, 37, did more research, the mom-of-four decided to undergo a 12-hour procedure to remove the tumor.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t sit up,” she recalled to podcast host Heather McMahan, noting the tumor was sitting on her balance nerve. “Matthew said when he came in the first night, ‘Hunter could sit up way better than I could.’ I was tossing and turning and falling off the bed. Re-learning walking took a long time. I couldn’t have my kids around.”
While recuperating from the surgery was “tough,” Kelly is grateful for how the health scare brought her and Matthew closer together.
“I always say, it helped my marriage,” she said. “It helped our family unit. I’m grateful for it … and it’s because there was a good outcome. Luckily for me, it was good.”
Kelly is often outspoken about the ups and downs of the pair’s relationship, both on social media and her “The Morning After” podcast.
“There are times where I have to run things by him before podcasts are released,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in February. “That is the only time, really. It’s interesting ’cause sometimes I’m like, ‘Why don’t you listen?’ [and] other times I’m like, ‘Don’t listen.’ It’s this different dynamic … but, like, for the most part, we’re busy [and] he’s not really a podcast person in general.”
