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Round the Twist: Facing the Abdominable

Memoir of a Young Cancer Survivor
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"It's a heavy burden being a young cancer survivor," the words at the heart of the debut novel by Lisa Febre, drive her to find purpose and meaning in a life unexpectedly consumed by a diagnosis of late-stage colon cancer at the age of 47. She reveals her deeply emotional journey with raw intensity, humor, and heartbreaking honesty. 

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“Round The Twist is a memoir about being incredibly alive and deeply loved, crackling with detail, intensity, and wit. A balm for the soul, a love story in disguise.”

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Synopsis:

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In 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic stretched into its second year, a different kind of disease was brewing inside of Lisa, a 47-year-old vegan and yoga practitioner. Without any of the classic risk factors or symptoms, she was desperate to rationalize away the obvious tumors on her scans, wanting to believe anything except cancer was possible.

 

The long and difficult journey to diagnosis was fraught with pitfalls and wrong turns, ambivalent doctors, and insensitive nurses. Through the efforts of a strong advocate, she was finally placed in the care of some of the best doctors Los Angeles has to offer, only to be devastated to learn that she had Stage-4C Colon Cancer.

 

Facing unspeakable odds, she dove head first into aggressive treatments that decimated her body but never destroyed her innate optimism and positivity. 

 

Through the lens of the natural world around her, the young cancer survivor reveals the intensely private and deeply emotional aspects of fighting for her life.  Sometimes with a pinch of humor but always with raw honesty, she holds on to bright hope that warmly invites you to share in her journey.

Reviews

What People Are Saying:

"Febre offers a memoir of surviving colorectal cancer and its aftermath. An engaging and unsentimental remembrance of fighting illness." Kirkus Reviews

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Lisa Febre pulls no punches in her heartfelt, compelling, and thought-provoking book, Round the Twist. While giving an unflinching view into cancer, her personality bounces off the page, and is a wonderful, gentle reminder that each day is a gift to enjoy and appreciate.

Mary Rosenthal for Chick Lit Café

 

Sublime Line: “A masterfully written memoir that touches, moves, inspires and enlightens – a definite must- read.” 

Overall Rating = 5 Storyline & Concept = 5 Writing & Delivery = 5 Editorial = 5

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Leave a review wherever you bought the book!

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"Able to make you weep one moment and then guffaw the next, Lisa's book is a beautifully written testament to the power of love, friendship, and self-worth."

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Lisa Febre

Lisa Febre began typing stories at the age of 8, which was just a few short years after she began playing the piano. An early adopter of the blog format in the late 1990s, she has been writing about music, teaching, food, and fitness for over two decades, and has had several articles on veganism and eating disorders printed in the Canadian publication T.O.F.U. Magazine. A devoted Ashtanga yogi, trail runner, and vegan, she credits her healthy habits for helping save her life from Stage-4C Colon Cancer in 2022.

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"Round the Twist: Facing the Abdominable" is her first published novel, and hopefully not her last! Her music career has been through many metamorphoses, the most recent being a switch from oboe to cello, so she is not surprised to discover a new career in writing has emerged. She enjoys the challenge of a new direction. 

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Lisa lives in Chatsworth CA with her husband, Composer Louis Febre, son Andrew, and two rescue dogs: Dusty & Luna 

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Lisa is available for speaking engagements at cancer wellness centers, ostomy and cancer support groups, book readings, and other events that bring positivity and peace to anyone with cancer and the people who love them.

 

Lisa is a Mentor with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (CCA) and has written several articles for the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA) website.

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Lisa is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)

"You will be inspired by what can be accomplished through courage, tenacity, spirituality, and hope."

Round the Twist

"Gone ‘round the twist” is slang that implies someone has gone crazy. Certainly, with my cancer diagnosis, my life went ‘round the twist. The visual of going down the U-bend in a pipe appealed to me as an allusion to the sigmoid colon (the body’s U-bend) and to describe this whole crazy experience with colon cancer.

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This story is my version of the events that transpired after my diagnosis, pieced together from my sketchy memory, peppered with stories my husband told me of events of which I have no memory, and the many journal entries I wrote during this period of my life. I have changed a few of the names for privacy and moved some events around in time for narrative purposes, but everything included in this story happened.

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©LisaFebre2023

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(You'll just have to read the book to find out where the term, "The Abdominable," came from...)

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