Retired professional soccer player Lauren Holiday’s surgical procedure to remove a benign brain tumor was “successful,” according to New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter John Reid, who tweeted the good news Friday.
The former Under Armour-sponsored athlete underwent the operation on Thursday, weeks after giving birth to a baby girl in mid-September.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist for the national women’s soccer team received heartwarming messages from her friends ahead of the surgery, including fellow Olympian Hope Solo. “You’re in my thoughts @laurenholiday12,” Solo tweeted Thursday.
Lauren and her husband, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, learned of the diagnosis of the benign tumor on the right side of her brain when she was six months into her pregnancy, according to Nola.com.
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The tumor did not affect the health of the child and doctors expected she would recover fine.
Though the couple had a “mid-October” due date for their first child together, they induced birth to speed along the date of the procedure.
Jrue announced at the beginning of September that he planned to go on hiatus from his team and will miss an undetermined amount of time from the 2016-17 season — citing concerns for his family.
“My family comes before basketball,” he said at the time in an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I’m obviously blessed to play this game and be in the position I am in, but my wife is the most important thing in the world to me. She comes before anything else.”
Team management fully supported his decision, he added.
