i had an update (most recent one) on my MAC and now i cannot access the Word file...any ideas?

Sounds to me like you have an old version of Word installed that is not compatible with the version of macOS you are now running.

You can either revert to the previous version of macOS, subscribe to Microsoft 365, purchase the current version of MS Office outright, or find an alternative office suite.

What do you mean you can't access it?

Exactly what is happening?

But first, just try opening it in Pages, which if you don't have it, you can get for free from the App Store.