Kelly Stafford’s Cousin Has the Same ‘Exact Same’ Brain Tumor She Had

Six years after Kelly Stafford underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor, she says her cousin is dealing with the same illness.

“The cousin I was closest to growing up had the exact same brain tumor I did, just on the opposite side,” Stafford, 35, revealed on the Thursday, April 24 episode of her “The Morning After” podcast. “[I] went up there [to Michigan] to be there for that, she’s doing great for all of those who prayed, she’s doing amazing. She’s back home.”

Just one week earlier, Kelly, wife of NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford, celebrated the anniversary of her successful surgery — a 12-hour ordeal that came with significant risk. Kelly posted a photo via Instagram of herself on April 17 on the beach, wearing a hat and sunglasses.

“Celebrating six years since my brain tumor removal at my favorite place on earth. #hallheaven,” she wrote in the caption.

Kelly has been open about her journey in the past, even detailing the discussions she had with her husband before the procedure.

“Immediately, I was like, ‘Take it out,’ and Matthew was kind of against it,” she 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.”

She continued, “I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t sit up. 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.”

Their daughter Hunter, now 6, was six months old at the time. The Staffords also share twins Sawyer and Chandler, both 7, and Tyler, 4.

With the benefit of hindsight, Kelly is able to see now how her health struggles made her marriage stronger.

“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.”

More recently, Kelly revealed an additional health problem she has encountered. She explained on the April 17 episode of “The Morning After” that an at-home blood test showed she has “extremely high” cholesterol. While high cholesterol runs in her family, she added that her diet hasn’t helped matters.

“If you guys know me very well, I go to bed with 10 Swedish Fish in my hand every night, or hot chocolate, or something,” she said.