Countless fans know Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto thanks to the “Fast & Furious” movies. What they might not know is that the actress dealt with a serious health issue that led to her having brain surgery just six years ago, between the filming of “F9” in 2019 and its release in 2021.
That’s not to mention the fact that the star was awake during the surgery, and has now opened up about what she experienced during the procedure and how it changed her life.
Jordana Shared What She Remembers About Her Brain Surgery
On the Tuesday, June 30, episode of the “She MD” podcast, Brewster opened up about the fact that when she was 28 years old, “she had been diagnosed with cavernous malformation (CVM), an abnormal cluster of thin, fragile blood vessels located in the language area of her brain,” according to Us Weekly. “CVM can cause seizures and potentially life-threatening bleeding, which can be controlled by medication, diet and sometimes surgery.”
Brewster eventually opted to undergo surgery — an awake craniotomy — after “she experienced two ‘break-through’ seizures, causing concern that one day she would seize while driving or holding her children,” Us explains.
Getty“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,” Brewster said while describing what she remembers of the surgery. “If I couldn’t come up with a word association or if I couldn’t answer a question they knew, ‘Oh, OK, we’ve hit a part of the brain we shouldn’t hit and let’s stay away from there.'”
“What’s so weird about — I think it’s called aphasia, when you lose your language — is, you think it, you know the answer, but you’re not able to say it,” she continued. “Which is a really weird feeling 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 Was Successful … and I’m So Grateful’
Getty“The surgery was successful, thank god. They got it out,” Brewster said during her “She MD” interview. Noting how the procedure changed her life, she explained, “I’ve been seizure-free, symptom-free for six years now and I’m so grateful.”
Beyond that, the actress says that she “kind of overhauled” her entire life in 2020, saying, “I got a divorce, I found the love of my life. It was like ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ on steroids. … With brain surgery.”
“I just wanted this out so that I wouldn’t be burdened by it anymore,” she added. “It was this constant cloud where I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what if.’ … I’m a control freak, too — to lose control and to convulse in front of people or to lose control if you’re with your kid — that was always a constant fear.”
She also revealed, “I’m so relieved that I’m able to talk about it now, hopefully help others and get it off my chest.”
