Today, August 29th, was the day I had to make a life-changing decision. My boyfriend, Sid, and I drove down to Tampa for my first Moffitt appointment and my family from South Florida drove there as well. Sid had been to multiple appointments with me, but this would be the first time my family could go to an appointment with me, and boy did they have a bunch of questions for the doctor. Going into the appointment we were told only 4 people can go in the room with me. Well there were 6 of us altogether. However, Moffitt did their best to accommodate us all by adding chairs to the small exam room. Yes, we were packed in there like sardines in a can, but everyone was allowed to go in, listen to what the doctor had to say and ask their questions. My doctor at Moffitt then came in and literally spent an hour with my family and I, explaining everything in detail. My family has no medical background at all, so it was hard for them to understand everything the doctor was explaining. So he went into even further detail and drew pictures for my family to further explain what this mass could possibly be if it were to be benign or cancerous. He not only explained what he believed the mass could potentially be (surface epithelial tumor, germ cell tumor, stromal cell tumor), but explained what would happen during pre-op, during the surgery, and post-op. I mean this would be my first surgery, a major surgery and I had no clue what to expect. I wouldn't say it put my mind at ease, but it definitely made me feel better prepared on what to expect for my surgery day.
But now I needed to make the decision on where to have my surgery done, in Tallahassee or Tampa. A lot of factors played into this decision, which is what made it so hard. The GYN oncologist in Tallahassee stated the surgery would only take two hours and then I would be admitted in the hospital for about three days. The GYN oncologist at Moffitt stated the surgery would take at least four hours and then I would be admitted in the hospital for about three days. A two hour surgery time vs. a four hour surgery time is a HUGE difference, especially when my Moffitt doctor kept saying how carefully they needed to remove the mass just in case it was cancerous and had fluid components, if one of those fluid components leaked/popped then the cancer would spread. Both doctors told me there would be a possibility I would have to get a full hysterectomy, and it was too late to speak to a fertility specialist. The surgery at Moffitt would be a week later than the scheduled surgery in Tallahassee (and as you could probably imagine I just wanted this thing out of me). Sid, who I obviously wanted to be there for my surgery, first day of Fire School was the exact same day they wanted to schedule my surgery at Moffitt (it was the earliest time they could book it). So if I went with Moffitt, he couldn't be there with me. How would I get down to Tampa for my surgery, who would drive me there? I needed to think about where I would recuperate. It would be so much easier to have my surgery done in Tallahassee because the drive would be less than 15 minutes. If I had it done in Tampa it would be about a four hour drive back to Tallahassee... sitting in a bumpy car for about four hours just didn't seem too appealing. If I went back to my apartment would I be able to get up the stairs by myself? Who would be there to help take care of me?
After praying and talking it over with my family and Sid, I decided I would have my surgery done at Moffitt, September 9th. My thought process was if I had my surgery done at Moffitt and while removing the mass something went wrong or it turned out to be cancerous and somehow the fluid component leaked out and the cancer spread... I still went to the #6 cancer facility in the nation. I didn't want to regret my decision, so I did my part and went to the best cancer facility in my area. I did everything on my end and now it would be up to the doctors/surgeons.
