Jordana Brewster Details Undergoing Brain Surgery While Awake

Jordana Brewster is looking back at a harrowing medical journey. The 46-year-old actress recently detailed the brain surgery she underwent while awake in 2020, a procedure she chose after two breakthrough seizures.

According to an interview on the June 30 episode of the She MD podcast, Brewster was first diagnosed with a seizure-causing cavernous malformation in her brain when she was 28. She managed the condition with medication for over a decade before opting for a craniotomy.

She described the surreal experience of being conscious during the operation. "They shaved this part," Brewster recalled. "They opened my skull and I was on my side and there was someone in front of me showing me cards and sort of testing my language and two brilliant neurosurgeons behind me."

This real-time testing was crucial. "If I couldn’t come up with a word association or if I couldn’t answer a question, they knew, ‘Okay, we’ve hit a part of the brain we shouldn’t hit and let’s stay away from there,'" she explained.

During the surgery, Brewster experienced aphasia, a neurological disorder that impairs language. "You think it, you know the answer, but you’re not able to say it, which is a really weird feeling," she said. The experience gave her a new perspective on patients who cannot communicate. "And it also made me question, ‘Wait, what about patients that are in a coma or what about patients that can’t articulate what they want to say but it’s there, which is really frustrating?’"

The surgery has been a success. According to Just Jared, Brewster has been seizure-free ever since undergoing the surgery.

She connected the bravery to undergo the surgery to a period of major personal change. "I kind of overhauled my life in 2020 and I think that helped also to give me the bravery to do something about the CVM," Brewster concluded.