The first time I heard the term “total pelvic exenteration” in January 2016, I thought my local doctors were crazy. I’d been in treatment for cervical cancer off and on since early 2012, but my latest recurrence was so small, it didn’t even show up on scans. We only knew it was there because every time I had another Pap test, the results came back positive for cervical cancer.

I’d already had chemotherapy, radiation, brachytherapy...