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Hall-of-Fame quarterback Jim Kelly is going under the knife once more. The Buffalo Bills legend has surgery scheduled on Friday to remove a cyst from his back, his wife, Jill, posted on Instagram Thursday evening.
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Kelly's health issues have persisted since he was diagnosed with a form of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma in June 2013. He had surgery to remove a mass from his jaw shortly after that, but doctors found that cancer had returned in March 2014. After going through chemotherapy and eventually gaining a clean bill of health, Kelly announced in November 2014 that he had become afflicted with MRSA in his bones. He had two more surgeries, including an upper-jaw reconstruction, in 2018 after learning cancer had again returned.
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During an appearance at the Pro Bowl in late January, the 58-year-old Kelly informed reporters he had been living with intense pain in his lower back for the better part of two months and had finally elected to have another surgery to address the issue.
“My family's been yelling at me for a long time, but I kept putting it off, putting it off putting it off,” Kelly said, per The Buffalo News. “And I got to a point where I can’t put it off anymore. I just can't wait for a day where I'm pain-free. Right now, my back’s killing me. Hopefully, nothing else is wrong.
“I already have two plates and 10 screws in my back now,” he continued. “I’ve got a plate and six screws in my neck. Now I'm having another back surgery. I go, ‘Come on, Lord! Please, no more.' It is what it is. You just have to keep fighting through it. I pray every day that one of these days, I will be pain-free. So far, that hasn't been my case in many, many years.”
Kelly, who's run a non-profit organization in honor of his late son since 1997, was the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2018 ESPYS.
