clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Jim Kelly deals with another health setback

After being declared cancer-free, Jim Kelly is dealing with another health setback now in the form of MRSA.

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Warren is Associate Director of NFL coverage for SB Nation and previously covered the Bills for Buffalo Rumblings for more than a decade.

Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly beat cancer twice. Now he's dealing with another health scare as he told the Miami Herald yesterday he is being treated for MRSA. He was in Miami to be honored by his alma mater.

"I came down with MRSA," Kelly told the paper. "I was cleared in September of the cancer - I have another MRI in two weeks. The toughest part for me was I was almost ready to take out my feeding tube, I was feeling good and they said they need to do some biopsies. Those 12 biopsies put me back so far."

So while he is cancer-free, he is still dealing with the after affects of the post-cancer testing (biopsies, eating with a feeding tube) and weakened immune system (MRSA). MRSA is a strain of staph that is resistant to common antibiotics. It is common among people who spend a great deal of time in hospitals, as Kelly has since his cancer recurrence this Spring. To combat the MRSA, Kelly takes an IV antibiotic three times a day for eight weeks.

The surgery Kelly had a couple weeks ago was, "to shave some of the bone down so the biopsies can heal over." It has led to a continuation of feeding tube use as he still can't open his jaw wide enough to chew food in his sore mouth.

Keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers, Bills fans.