Matt Tifft tweeted a video on Saturday morning, a day after the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series driver had surgery to remove a brain tumor.
“Good morning, everybody. Everything with the surgery last night went great, other than the fact it feels like someone drilled a hole in my head,” Tifft said with a chuckle, adding “Kinda painful.”
Video update! Thanks so much to everyone for all the positive thoughts and prayers pic.twitter.com/kdqANY3uoC
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Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft)
July 2, 2016
Finally awake for a bit. Here’s the stitches to hold my head together. Sounds like they got the whole tumor out!���� pic.twitter.com/c4JTgh8Cw2
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Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft)
July 3, 2016
Tifft was supposed to drive the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Daytona International Speedway in Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, but JGR announced early in the week that Tifft would not make the start as the 20-year-old would instead undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in the brain. David Ragan drove the No. 18 to the pole and the team kept Tifft’s name above the door. Ragan finished 21st.
“Sounds like the sooner I get up and walking, the sooner I get home,” Tifft said. He expects to get pathology results in a week or two.
According to a release from JGR on Tuesday, the tumor is slow-growing and was discovered while Tifft was being evaluated for a disc condition in his back.
Before and after surgery, Tifft said he was eager to get back on the track with a diagnosis of “perfectly health” as soon as possible.
In the early morning Sunday, the young driver tweeted that he had been released from the hospital, saying that, so far, his recovery is going “really well.”
Update: have been released from hospital pic.twitter.com/FlWlReVEUA
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Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft)
July 3, 2016