‘Tiny Pretty Things’ Star Barton Cowperthwaite Reveals He’s Been Diagnosed With A Brain Tumor

Tiny Pretty Things star Barton Cowperthwaite revealed that he has been diagnosed with “at least a stage 2 glioma,” or a brain tumor.

In an Instagram post he shared over the weekend, Cowperthwaite opened up about his diagnosis, explaining he has “a fairly decent sized brain tumor,” but the tumor has “not spread from a cancer anywhere else in the body,” per Entertainment Weekly.

“The only course of treatment for something like this is brain surgery,” he wrote. “Docs so far have been confident that they’ll be able to remove most of the tumor, and that after a successful operation, and some rehab, I will be operating like my (amazing, talented, brilliant, hilarious) self.”

According to Cleveland Clinic, gliomas are “primary brain tumors, meaning they originate in the brain tissue,” and while slow-growing, they are “life-threatening because they can be hard to reach and treat with surgery [and] grow into other areas of the brain.”

Cowperthwaite clarified that “it seems like scans and check ups will be apart of [his] life for its lengthy remainder,” and that he and his family “are taking several days to get second opinions.”

“Planning to go into surgery middle or end of next week,” he continued. “I’ll do my best to be open about the journey on here. I am planning on fully bouncing back to be better than my former glory! Please feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to stay connected with as many people as I can. All my love 💙”

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A post shared by Barton Cowperthwaite (@bartonc)

The 31-year-old actor and professionally trained ballet dancer shared a follow-up video on Instagram, in which he explained that “over the past eight weeks, [he has] had several seizures, the most recent of which landed [him] in the ER.”

“They were able to perform a CAT scan, which discovered an abnormality and, from that point, they sent me to a different facility to get further imaging done,” he added. “And the MRI showed a lemon-sized glioma in my right frontal lobe. Thankfully, it is not of immediate concern. They were able to discharge me and send me home.”

Noting that he’s “gathering the troops and strategizing,” he said that he is “meeting with some of the best of the best on Monday,” and will then be able to determine where his surgery will take place next week.

On Sunday (Nov. 12), he posted another video on Instagram announcing the launch of a GoFundMe page, which has already made north of $77,000 as of publication time. The page’s description reads that funds raised will go toward “medical expenses not covered by insurance, rent, food, family travel, lodging, recovery, PT, rehab, future scans, at home care, unexpected costs, and more.”

Cowperthwaite starred as Oren Lennox in the first and only season of the 2020 Netflix drama. Other notable credits of his include Fosse/Verdon, Girls5eva and the films Center Stage: On Pointe and Imposters, per IMDb.