Finding My Invincible Summer

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    Book Excerpt Finding My Invincible Summer, by Muriel Vasconcellos

    On a warm fall day in 2001, sat on t!e front stoop of a small !otel in one of "as!in#ton$s older tree%

    s!aded nei#!bor!oods, waitin# for &r' (aird to arri)e' &r' *!omas (aird was t!e sur#eon w!o first told

    me !ad breast cancer back in 1+' -e was also t!e one w!o concluded t!ree years later t!at t!e cancer!ad spread to my bones and predicted !ad less t!an six mont!s to li)e' . mutual friend t!ou#!t it was

    time for us to meet a#ain, so !ere was, more t!an twenty years after !is pro#nosis'"!en !e arri)ed, &r' (aird #reeted me wit! a warm smile and an outstretc!ed !and' "it!out any

    preamble, t!e first t!in# !e said was/

    ts times like t!ese, m !appy to be wron#3

    My cancer crisis !appened a lon# time a#o, and !a)e outli)ed many of t!e c!aracters in t!e story'

    "!at makes my experience somew!at different is t!at ultimately walked away from treatment w!en

    doctors were tellin# me would not sur)i)e if did' .s learned #entle approac!es to becomin#

    p!ysically and emotionally !ealt!y, cancer became a non%issue' !a)ent seen an oncolo#ist since 1+45,

    and as far as know, am cancer%free'

    My episodes wit! cancer were intertwined wit! t!e story of lo)in# and losin# my !usband 6yl)io' -is

    support made e)eryt!in# possible7 !is deat! s!attered me to t!e core' n my )ulnerable state, stru##led

    to deal wit! #rief, #uilt, and e)entually, w!en was told t!at my cancer !ad spread, !elplessness and!opelessness' *!en one day !ad an experience t!at s!ifted my perspecti)e, and #limpses of a bri#!t new

    world opened up to me'

    .s be#an to mo)e beyond t!e limitin# beliefs !ad !eld for most of my life, new insi#!ts constantly

    expanded my awareness and understandin#' *!ey always seemed to appear at t!e moment was ready fort!em'

    "!ile wouldnt wis! cancer on anyone, for me it was t!e catalyst t!at c!an#ed e)eryt!in#' .s

    write t!ese lines, its !ard for me to reco#ni8e t!e person was t!ree decades a#o' My 9ourney led me to

    freedom, power, and, ultimately, deep inner peace:my in)incible summer'

    disco)ered my lump on .pril ;ools &ay, 1+

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    &r' (aird finally appeared' -e now !adCt!e final lab results' Des, !e said, t!ere was a tumor/ an

    in)asi)e ductal carcinoma, about an inc! in diameter:2' centimeters to be exact'

    ' ' '

    My experience wit! cancer is part of a muc! lar#er tapestry of interwo)en t!reads' .t t!e !eart and centerof t!is tapestry was a beautiful lo)e story' Fntil met 6yl)io, my life !ad been turbulent for as lon# as

    could remember' "it! !im, felt secure, supported, and fulfilled' -e became my anc!or as we faced ourc!allen#es to#et!er' *!e story of our lo)e be#an se)en years before my partial mastectomy'

    ' ' '

    -e s!owed up in my life Guite unexpectedly' -e !ad come from Bra8il to on a cultural mission and

    wasC in "as!in#ton for meetin#s and inter)iews before !e started out to )isit cities around t!e country'

    will ne)er for#et t!e moment first saw !im'C

    -e stood a s!ade under

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    . few weeks later, was callin# an ambulance to take !im to t!e Emer#ency Joom'CBy *uesday,

    Marc! 15, 6yl)io !ad recei)ed 15< units of blood' -e !ad !ad

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    le)el, t!at my t!ou#!ts dri)e t!e unconscious processes #oin# on in my body' understood t!at !ad a

    c!oice/ could c!oose to !arbor stressful t!ou#!ts, or could release my attac!ment to t!em before t!ey

    launc!ed on a destructi)e pat!:on t!at poisonous 9ourney t!at only !arms myself' *!e opportunities

    were infinite'

    Muriel Vasconcellos !as been a translator for =0 years in medicine, public !ealt!, en)ironment,

    international or#ani8ations7 speaker of >ortu#uese and 6panis! book bein# translated into >ortu#ueseN7

    >!'&' in lin#uistics wit! o)er 100 publis!ed articles7 writer on translation t!eory, mac!ine translationinternational lifetime ac!ie)ement award 1+++ and award as founder of t!e .ssociation for Mac!ine

    *ranslation in t!e .mericas 2012N, and !uman interest topics, includin# blo#7 landscape desi#ner wit!

    expertise in plants7 interested in alternati)e !ealin#, p!oto#rap!y, desi#n, do#s, t!e Ennea#ram of

    personality as a spiritual pat!'

    *o learn more )isit www'findin#myin)inciblesummer'info

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