I, too, have had stage lll squamous cell ca of the vulva. It has been about three years ago. I was totally shocked, to say the least!
Fortunately, it was caught fairly early. I was sent to a wonderful doc who is a gynecological oncologist in my state.
My surgery appt was set up. I had to check into the hospital the day before the surgery.
I had ambivalent feelings about the surgery.
The surgery went without any problems, I awakened on schedule and I felt fine. The only pain that I had was from the removal of 7 I inguinal lymph nodes(which were negative). All in all the surgery was not anything like I suspected. The most pain I had for a while was the inguinal area. It took a while to heal!! Hope this is helping to you!