Kelly Stafford is forever grateful for the doctor who saved her life.
The wife of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford recently underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor, and she penned a touching message to Dr. B. Gregory Thompson of the University of Michigan hospital, who performed the operation and ultimately saved her hearing.
“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,” Kelly wrote on Instagram, adding her doctor “had done about 2000 acoustic neuroma cases & had published outstanding results when attempting to preserve facial & hearing function w/ the surgery.”
Kelly took a liking to Thompson not only based on his professional history, but because he reminded her of her own father.
“He truly cared & was empathetic, which meant so much to me,” she wrote. “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.”
Kelly underwent surgery in April.
“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!” Kelly shared.
Kelly added Dr. Thompson visited her every day following the surgery, including when she was readmitted into the hospital due to pain.
“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,” Kelly posted.
“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.”