Football Hall of Famer and former Buffalo Bills star quarterback Jim Kelly underwent a follow-up oral surgery on his jaw last month in preparation for permanent dentures to replace part of his upper jaw that was removed in 2013 due to cancer.
Unfortunately, “something came up” during his recovery so Kelly says he’s heading to New York City in August so doctors can ensure that his recovery is still on track.
Kelly, 58, stated, “Right now it’s just a checkup. It will be a checkup, but how long will I be there [until I] check out? We’ll see. I still have a mouth full of stitches. I’m sure they’re going to pull all of those out.”
Update on Jim Kelly’s health: He says he is heading back to NYC for a check up with his doctor in the 2nd week in August.
“I’m not sure what’s going. I have some things I wanna have looked at and then we’ll go from there.” #KellyTough #BillsMafia #Bills @News_8 pic.twitter.com/snuziV651c
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) July 17, 2018
“My doctors are in New York. I’m not there every day. So I want to be sure that everything (that) is going on, is going on for the right reasons.”
“Just like everybody, if you go through a broken leg or something, you got to have checkups. If there is a little pain here (where) you think there shouldn’t be anything, you got to get it checked,” he continued. “Even though I’m blessed to have (the doctor) at (Erie County Medical Center) I go to in Buffalo look and make sure that things are going pretty good, it helps.”
Asked about what pushed him to schedule the checkup, Kelly said, “I’m not sure what’s going on. I have some things that I want to have looked at, and then we’ll go from there.”
“I don’t know whether I’m going to be here for two days, four days or in and out. And then hopefully I pray when September has rolled around that I can finally bite into a piece of meat and not soup every day,” he added.
Kelly had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2013 which led to the removal of a portion of his jaw. The next year, doctors discovered cancer had spread to his sinus so Kelly also underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment and was declared cancer-free in September 2014. In March, he underwent a complicated 12-hour surgery to reconstruct his jaw and remove oral cancer again.
Kelly’s battle with cancer, during which he lost 70 pounds, has been challenging. It not only resulted in the loss of part of his jaw, but also led to trouble speaking, an inability to produce saliva and a loss of taste.
The Hall of Fame quarterback gained star status as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills for 11 years, guiding the franchise through its most successful era when it appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s, though all four of those big games were losses.
Kelly retired after the 1996 NFL season and remained in Buffalo as his post-football home, where he remains active in the community.
[show_poll poll_id=624]
Kelly’s battle with cancer has not gone unnoticed in the sports world.
The beloved star has received tremendous support and recognition and is set to be awarded the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2018 ESPY Awards show in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
654 Responses
I am so grateful for your blog article.Really thank you! Awesome.
I really enjoy the blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
I cannot thank you enough for the article.Much thanks again.
Muchos Gracias for your blog article. Really Great.
Major thankies for the blog.Much thanks again. Really Great.
Thanks-a-mundo for the article post.Really thank you! Really Great.
Say, you got a nice blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
I really like and appreciate your article post. Awesome.
Thank you for your post.Thanks Again. Cool.
Appreciate you sharing, great article.Much thanks again. Want more.
wow, awesome article.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
wow, awesome article.Much thanks again. Cool.
Major thanks for the post.Thanks Again. Great.
Hey, thanks for the blog article.Thanks Again. Awesome.
Enjoyed every bit of your blog post.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
Really appreciate you sharing this blog post. Great.
Hey, thanks for the blog.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Much obliged.
Muchos Gracias for your blog article. Much obliged.
Im obliged for the article post. Really Cool.
Great post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
Really informative blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
I truly appreciate this article post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
Thank you ever so for you blog.Much thanks again. Awesome.
Im grateful for the article. Really Great.
Appreciate you sharing, great blog.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
I am so grateful for your article.Much thanks again. Much obliged.
A round of applause for your article post.Thanks Again. Great.
Thanks-a-mundo for the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on…
Great article. Keep writing.
This is one awesome blog article.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
Thanks for the post.Really thank you! Will read on…
Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you!
Major thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Want more.
I appreciate you sharing this blog. Much obliged.
Really appreciate you sharing this post.Thanks Again. Awesome.
Major thankies for the post.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
I absolutely love your site.. Great colors & theme. Did you develop this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m wanting to create my own personal site and want to find out where you got this from or what the theme is named. Thank you!
I appreciate you sharing this article post.