Lucia Hippolito knew she wouldn’t see 2024

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Political scientist who became quadriplegic 11 years ago, victim of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, had metastatic cancer At the end of May, I received a message from Lucia Hippolito, reminding me that we had not seen each other for a few months – she was right, our last meeting had been in December 2022. Time and again he sent a humorous recording, saying: “I am like a public monument, I am open to visitation!”. Lucia Hippolito: serenity in the face of the diagnosis of metastasis Mariza Tavares her life changed radically in 2012, when, at the height of her professional career, she anchored the program “CBN Rio”, on Radio CBN. On vacation in Paris, she completely lost her movements on the eve of her return to Brazil. It was a very serious form of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that affects muscle groups. There were three months of hospitalization, with 48 days intubated, until she was able to take a flight back, already attached to a wheelchair. I arranged to go to her house the following Monday and, on the way to the apartment in Ipanema, in the South Zone of Rio, I realized that her birthday was approaching. Last year, on June 29th, she had invited 15 friends to celebrate her 72nd birthday. Despite all the limitations that quadriplegia imposed on her, she received us in the living room, sitting in an armchair, impeccably groomed (as always) and with makeup on. However, this meeting was different from the one that led me to write, at her request, a column about how she was doing in December 2021. She was wearing the necklace I had given her for her birthday, but bad news awaited me on my visit on the 5th. of June. In September 2022, Lucia had been diagnosed with cervical cancer and had undergone a total hysterectomy, with the removal of her ovaries as well. The tumor measured 4 cm and the recovery had been satisfactory, but in the middle of May, she felt severe pain in her spine and abdomen. An MRI of the spine and a CT scan of the lung and abdomen left no doubt: “The cancer has spread. I have metastases in my spine, abdomen and lung. Worst-case scenario, I have three more months; at best, six. The doctors are studying the possibility of me having immunotherapy, but I’ve already said that if I have to get out of this bed, I won’t have any treatment. What I don’t want, under any circumstances, is to feel pain”. Even under the impact of the situation, he took all measures, such as drawing up the document with his advance directives of will, which provides for the procedures that a person wants or does not want to undergo when he has an illness with no therapeutic possibilities and unable to express his willing. In her will, she asked that the ashes be scattered on the Place des Vosges, one of the postcards of Paris, the city she loves and which she visited twice a year. The wish will be fulfilled by Regina, her sister. “I had a full life, full of achievements. I was very loved by Edgar (Flexa Ribeiro), with whom I have been married for 51 years. I say that I don’t regret anything, but I do regret not having visited Egypt and Russia, because I would have loved to have known the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg”. I asked where she found strength and she told me that, after so many years facing the consequences of the disease, the long periods of depression had been replaced by serenity. A voracious consumer of series, she gave me countless indications of what to see. We talked about politics, which he continues to follow, and toasted with a Spanish sparkling wine. Life. She asked me to write about her condition, but to wait until she spoke to the people closest to her about the seriousness of the situation. She didn’t have time. Hospitalized last Saturday, today Lucia leaves us. Orphans of her intelligence.

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