Jarrett Brown
4 min readJan 9, 2025

How my brain tumor reinvigorated my life’s work

Neurosurgeon Dr. Kenneth Reichert, walked into my hospital room on August 5, 2024 and said the tangerine-sized mass in my brain that was discovered on the MRI the previous night was a tumor. “We have to remove it or you are going to die,” he said.

Dr. Reichert said he had successfully performed the surgery before and he thought he could do it again. However, he said there was a risk that complications during surgery could cause me to lose my physical abilities, cognitive abilities, or my life.

The doctor sent me home to relax and prepare for the surgery that would take place two days later. After I left the hospital that evening I went to my favorite restaurant and did other things I enjoy because I thought it might be my last opportunity to experience the pleasure of those activities.

My biggest concern was that I could lose my ability to think critically, think analytically, and speak because those skills are fundamental to who I am as a person. The next day, I woke up, sat down at my computer, and recorded an 18-minute video for social media that included everything I wanted to say in case I never got the opportunity to speak again.

Choking up and trying in vain to hold back tears, I said, “…If I lose my ability to communicate, I will lose my ability to advocate for other people and to try to solve problems and make things better for those people and for everyone else.”

“They (workers) won’t have me, but I won’t have the ability to give what I am of myself to them, which is important to me in a way,” I said. “It helps me realize my potential and do what I can do as one single human being for everyone else.”

I then explained that I did not want or need anyone to do anything for me other than to stand up for other people and help them in whatever way seemed the most impactful. The video ended with a message about fairness, kindness, and love because all people deserve to be recipients of these acts.

Thanks to the medical professionals at two hospitals, including Dr. Reichert, I came out on the other end of the surgery alive and with all of my physical and cognitive abilities intact. I have always lived intensely and intently, but since the surgery I have lived with more vigor and determination than ever before.

When I mentioned my life’s work of advocating for others in the video I made the day before the surgery I was talking about the 17 years I have spent as a self-styled Workers’ Rights Advocate. During that time, I advocated for improvements in access and affordability in our healthcare system as a part of my broader mission.

Now, that I have had personal experience with a major medical issue I have re-doubled my efforts to create the change that ensures everyone is able to get the quality medical care they have a natural right to. Days after leaving the hospital in August, I had an op-ed published about the importance of keeping and improving the Affordable Care Act. Days after that, I was filmed for an ad about the importance of keeping and improving the Act.

Most of my 25 years of work have been spent in seafood processing plants, meatpacking plants, and other factories working in production. In addition to doing my hourly job and my advocacy work, I also worked toward completing my college education. With a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in hand, I am heading to law school in the fall of 2025. If and when I graduate and become an attorney, I am going to spend my career advocating for people so that they too can get through difficult times to go on and prosper.

When Dr. Reichert first told me how serious my situation was. I thought a lot about the end of my life. Fortunately, my brain surgery was not the end of my life, but rather, it gave me a new beginning. There was hope for me whether I knew it or not; And, there is hope for you whether you know it or not.

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