LAND O' LAKES — Have you ever had your life change in an instant?
Sandra Vebert’s life did with four words.
“Stage 4 lung cancer,” said Vebert.
The terminal diagnosis turned her life upside down a few months ago.
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With all of Vebert’s treatments, she was traveling and two and a half hours from her home in Pasco County to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, multiple times a week.
That is, until the new Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center opened up in Land O’ Lakes earlier this year, bringing her commute down to just 20 minutes.
“It’s wonderful because you don’t feel well when you have cancer, and you have to do that long trip home after getting treatment, it’s overwhelming sometimes. So it’s very important this is here,” said Vebert.
She has relied on the staff at Moffitt Speros to push through.
“When you’re told you’re terminal, you need the positive from them and they show you nothing but love and they care about your care…I cry every time I come here because they have made it a lot easier journey," said Vebert.
That’s the kind of impact that Dr. Michael Shafique, Medical Director of Moffitt at Speros, told Tampa Bay 28 he’s hoping for all of these patients.
“It’s been a real game changer, I think, for patients who live in this community. I think it really cuts down on a lot of the stress having to travel in a little further to some of the other campuses. It makes such a big difference for their family and for their quality of life outside of the treatment,” said Shafique.
Reducing the burden of a commute and cutting down on stress by bringing cancer care to a rapidly growing community.
“I think the projections are this area really is just going to continue to grow, so we’ll be excited to be part of that,” said Shafique.
Moffitt Cancer Center is the flagship facility anchoring phase 1 of Speros.
“We have a full-service cancer center here with radiation, oncology, imaging, infusion center and medical oncology. We’ll also be opening our proton center here within a few months as well,” said Shafique.
The 775-acre campus is located off the Suncoast Parkway in Land O’ Lakes.
Moffitt is also building a cancer research center here, and down the line, there are plans to bring in other medical facilities, making this a hub for cancer care discovery for people in Land O’ Lakes, Pasco County, and beyond.
“It’s definitely exciting, and we don’t take it lightly,” said Shafique.
A massive development in the works, which kicked off with this outpatient facility.
The hall's not just a sign of what’s to come but also a sign of hope.
“They said [my cancer is] highly relapsable, but it takes treatment well, the cancer I have…I’m gonna be the first patient it doesn’t relapse on,” said Vebert.
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