On April 3, 2007, I had a surgical procedure at MD Anderson called a total pelvic exenteration. During the procedure, Dr. Michael Bevers removed my vagina, bladder, anus and rectum. Then, he made an artificial vagina using two of my abdominal muscles, and an artificial bladder (known as an “Indiana pouch”) out of part of my ascending colon and small intestine. He also created a stoma (or surgical opening in the abdomen) for use with a...