Jim Kelly is healing from a grueling surgery in March to remove oral cancer from his upper jaw, and the Hall of Fame quarterback will undergo a follow-up procedure next month.
“Went to NYC yesterday for a checkup and moving forward, strategy meeting,” Kelly’s wife, Jill, posted on Instagram Thursday, via the Buffalo News. “The doctors were very impressed with how much Jim has healed since he’s been home. Praise God!
“The plan at this point is that he will have surgery in mid-June to lesson the ‘skin flap’ bulk in his mouth, as well as put implants into his upper jaw. And then there will be more healing and waiting and then another surgery and possibly upper teeth sometime in September.”
Dr. Mark Urken performed a nearly 12-hour surgery on Kelly on March 28 at Mount Sinai West in New York City. Urken used a technique called microvascular reconstruction to remove the recurrence of oral cancer, inserting a portion of Kelly’s fibula, along with attached soft tissue and blood vessels, into Kelly’s upper jaw.
Kelly, 58, was released from the hospital April 14.