"Day 6 ICU... Got some standing up, arms wrapped around, real hugs today. PROGRESS! Praise GOD! #KellyTough"
Words from Jim Kelly's wife Jill, on Instagram, just days after Kelly's surgery.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer had oral cancer removed last week, in a surgical procedure that lasted 11 hours.
This weekend, his wife and daughter took to social media to update fans on Kelly's recovery. It's clear from their social media updates that the Kelly family is taking this all one day at a time.
A post shared by Jill Kelly (@jillmkelly) on
Dr. Richard Smith, the Vice Chair, Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery at Montefiore Health System is very familiar with the type of reconstructive surgery Jim Kelly had on March 28. He explained that patients, post surgery, need a temporary tracheotomy tube. It's a safe airway through his neck because of all the swelling and healing that needs to happen in the mouth and face.
While speech might seem like the big issue, the first most important hurdle would be learning how to swallow again.
"Usually we would work with a swallowing therapist to make sure that people are swallowing safely and get them back up to normal food as quickly as possible," explains Dr. Smith. "But in the short term there will need to be nutritional support, for sure. With a complex reconstruction you can't put food in that area and put pressure on things for a while. So, that needs to take a week or two before one would try and eat."
Patients need to be medically cleared before he can begin rehabilitation. And patients that undergo reconstructive surgery, like Kelly, may wait days or weeks to get the go ahead.
Just doing simple things, like opening the mouth, would require significant resistance and range of motion exercises.
But, right now, the Kelly family appears focused on his day to day achievements.
Kelly's daughter posted on Easter that her dad was up and even took a couple of steps. Jill posted a video of Kelly writing a message to fans and supporters, thanking everyone for their prayers.
