8: Rediscovering Life After a Brain Tumor

by Nathalie Jacob, Simon Gilbert

Imagine only seeing a single number. Everywhere you look, all you can see is eight. You can’t spell your name. You can only draw a circle. You can’t add two plus three.

This was Nathalie Jacob’s life after an invasive brain surgery.

Nathalie hadn’t realized anything was wrong. She held a high-level job as a marketing executive and was discussing beginning a family with her husband when the doctors gave her the bad news. She had an intraventricular meningioma. She would need brain surgery.

In the aftermath of the operation, Nathalie experienced everything like a small child. She had to relearn how to do the simplest of tasks. In this inspirational memoir, Nathalie captures her unique delight at the simple wonders of life. She also candidly discusses some of the tragic consequences of the surgery and how she found a place of healing in the midst of all the negative news. Nathalie includes a chapter written by her husband and directed toward caretakers of patients in the same situation.

Nathalie’s memoir offers valuable insight into a complicated recovery process and shows the strength you can find in the darkest of circumstances.

159 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2018

About the author

Nathalie Jacob was raised in Colombia, went to high school in France, and later moved to the United States. She is trilingual in English, Spanish, and French.

Nathalie studied business administration at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia and received her master’s in business administration from IE Business School in Spain. She spent ten years working in high-level marketing jobs for Fortune 500 companies in five different countries. In her spare time, she enjoyed sailing and won several national championships.

The aftereffects of a brain surgery left Nathalie disabled and unable to work. She has done three voluntary jobs since, until the birth of her first child. She is now focusing on being the best mother she can be to her baby daughter, Nicole.

Reviews

[Jennifer Blankfein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow me on my blog Book Nation by Jen for all reviews and Recommendations.

In 8: Rediscovering Life After a Brain Tumor, Nathalie Jacob tells us her incredible story of bravery and rediscovering life and purpose after doctors discovered a golf ball size tumor in her brain. Enjoying a successful career and an exciting and energetic lifestyle with her new husband and friends, she was shocked when told she required surgery. Assuming she could be back to work and usual life in 3 weeks time, Nathalie and her family were blindsided when the results were not what was expected, and all of a sudden her hopes and dreams were not attainable. A devastating situation with a glimmer of hope, Nathalie had to adjust to the new normal and redefine who she is and what she can accomplish.

I had the pleasure of meeting Nathalie, and without a doubt, she is an incredible, eloquent woman with strength and a kind heart. She is worldly, well traveled, educated, accomplished, trilingual, with fantastic memories and stories from her days training for the Olympics in sailing and living in Madrid, Columbia, the Caribbean and Miami. Left with some considerable deficits that prevent her from getting a full time job and returning to her active lifestyle, she is now creating new memories in Connecticut with her husband and beautiful young daughter. Nathalie started several groups on Facebook, some the are social and one that is for Spanish speaking brain tumor survivors and their families. She likes connecting people, has found playdates and enjoyed mom’s outings with many of the people who have joined her groups, and her next challenge is to develop a not for profit to benefit children in Colombia. Her planned path in life may have changed but she is destined for great success.

Here is a video interview of Nathalie talking about her book. (visit https://booknationbyjen.wordpress.com... to see video. Please take the time to read her story!

[Ricardo Pedraza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I couldn't stop reading it, so I finished it the same day I downloaded it in my Kindle. A real emotional rollercoaster. It was like being on a side with Nathalie the whole time.

Thanks for sharing this life changing experience and helping us understand better people with this kind of health issues.

Many of us are waiting for second and third part of this story.

Please read this book , it is full of love and it is based on an inspiring story.

[Libby Waterford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Nathalie's story hard to put down. She tells the story of her recovery in such a clear, relatable way. I think anyone who is going through an unexpected health event can benefit from her experiences--both practically, as in taking the advice to ask questions and be prepared with the proper footwear and sharing passwords with loved ones--and emotionally, as the way she honestly acknowledges her fear, anger, and frustration at various steps on her journey but the is able to find the resiliency to look for the love, happiness, and hope is truly inspiring.