Kelly Stafford, wife of Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, shared an emotional Instagram post about the surgery that removed her brain tumor

AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File

• Kelly Stafford, the wife of longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, shared an emotional instagram post on Thursday, exactly six months after getting a benign brain tumor removed.

• Kelly said in an essay she penned for ESPN on Monday that she first went to the doctor when she began experiencing dizziness and vertigo. Testing revealed a benign tumor on Kelly's cranial nerves.

• After a 12-hour surgery to remove the tumor in April, Kelly had to re-learn to walk, and couldn't see her daughters for two weeks

• Now, she's celebrating how far she's come with photos from the day of her surgery.

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Kelly Stafford, the wife of longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, shared an emotional Instagram post six months after a surgery that removed a benign brain tumor.

"I'm so grateful for having been through this," she wrote. "It was tough as hell on me and everyone around me, but I know it has changed us and changed us for the better."

Kelly has been open about the recovery process since her April 17 surgery. Thursday marks exactly six months since she went into the operating room.

She wrote in an essay published by ESPN on Monday that she first went to the doctor when she began experiencing dizziness and vertigo. Testing revealed a benign tumor on Kelly's cranial nerves.

After a 12-hour surgery to remove the tumor in April, Kelly had to re-learn to walk, and couldn't see her daughters for two weeks.

Now, she's celebrating how far she's come with photos from the day of her surgery.

"I know I look at things entirely different. I know my husband looks at things entirely different and I can only hope that mindset trickles down to my children," she wrote. "The mindset that life is short and being kind is what makes you lovable, not what you look like, not what you do for a living, not how much money you have.. but by how big your heart is."

Read more: Alex Trebek says pancreatic cancer may bring his 'Jeopardy!' hosting duties to an end

Read Kelly Stafford's entire Instagram post here:

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