Jo Ann Pourier is a proud 65- year- old mother/grandmother, enrolled in the Kul Wicasa Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota. Jo Ann has 5 children and 13 grandchildren. Jo Ann currently resides in Rapid City, South Dakota. Jo Ann Pourier is widely known for creating the Lower Brule Sioux Tribal logo.
When we asked Jo Ann to share her story about her completed Colorectal Cancer (CRC)colonoscopy, Jo Ann replied:
“Well you reach a certain age… and I have a good provider, she checks on that with me all the time and she’s the one that set up my routine colonoscopy I believe at the age 62 was the 1st one and 65 was the 2nd one and it was just a routine exam.”
Jo Ann was very pleased with her provider as they were able to explain the whole procedure with her.
When we asked her how her procedure went, Jo Ann told us, “Good, you don’t feel a thing! You go to sleep and you wake up 20 minutes later and its over!
Jo Ann said that the most difficult part of preparing for her colonoscopy was
“The prepping, you have to drink a gallon of solution and it doesn’t taste that good. But, since I tried flavoring it like they say but that didn’t work either so I found out if you take a bite of a Popsicle, Yellow… not red or purple because red or purple can imitate the color of blood. So I took a bit of a yellow Popsicle and it went down easy. I don’t know what other people done but that worked for me.”
Many people are afraid or worried about CRC screening. Jo Ann was no exception. She explained to us that she encountered fears and worries concerning the results of the test.
Jo Ann detailed these feelings leading up to her colonoscopies when she told us she experienced the following:
“The normal fears, just like when a woman goes in for her yearly mammography, she worries about her results. That’s the same you worry about in a colonoscopy. Whether you’re going to have polyps, whether they’re going to be benign or abnormal. The 1st time I went in for my colonoscopy they found 2 polyps but when they took them out and tested them for cancer and the results came back negative. That was the 1st colonoscopy when I was 62 and they did a follow up 3 months later to see if there was any damage done. And then I got one done last month just to make sure and everything was clear and perfect and now I don’t have to go back for another 10 years.”
We asked Jo Ann if she could share some encouraging words to others about getting colonoscopy .
She said, “Well when I 1st got it I tried to wuss out, and the nurse said, ‘oh but you have to get it done, it’s so important!’ so I realized , ‘Well if she can get it done all the time, so can I!’ It’s just like your normal… Physical I would say? Like if you have diabetes, you learn to take care of it. Or rheumatoid arthritis, you learn to take care of it. This is something that should be looked at.”
Lastly, we asked what she would say to someone who might be afraid or someone who doesn’t want to get a colonoscopy done.
She told us, “Get it done! It’s the best sleep you’ll ever have. I imagine people get afraid, but don’t be. You don’t feel a thing, you don’t see a thing and it can save your life.
Jo Ann also addressed another common feeling for people who receive colonoscopies- embarrassment. In Jo Ann’s experience, “It’s not embarrassing as people think. You go to sleep, and you wake up 20 minutes later and it’s done! Well mine was 20 minutes, but you don’t know what’s happening and the nurse prepares you for it.”

“What do you do now?”
Tamara Halvorson asked herself, when she was faced with multiple visits to the doctor only for them tell her that the fissure that was causing the bleeding was still healing.
Initially, Halverson was seeing a provider about complications with her diabetes. Halvorson believes it was the switch of medications and Metformin that lead to the early detection of colorectal cancer at the age of 30. During this time, she was experiencing diarrhea for 6-8 months and she couldn’t finish meals without heading to the restroom.
Halvorson ended up stating her concerns to her normal provider who changed her Metformin to slow acting, but to no avail, as she continued to display symptoms with blood in her stool. She was then referred to Sanford in Bismarck ND when a doctor did not do an exam and did not order one. The doctor believed it may have been a fissure that was causing the bleeding and only prescribed topical cream.
Halvorson waited for 6 months to meet with a provider, and during that duration she still had symptoms of bleeding. After many months of what felt like being on the back burner, Halvorson finally met with a Dr. in Parshall for her diabetes and she mentioned bleeding in her stool. The doctor then ordered an exam and said that something wasn’t right and that she shouldn’t be bleeding.
Halvorson was referred to a GI doctor in Minot ND. Her appointments were once again delayed from May to July till she met with her doctor who did and exam and ordered a colonoscopy for the following week. Halvorson came in for her procedure on July 31st and was put to sleep. When she woke, the doctor had terrifying news and said that she had cancer.
Halvorson exclaims “It seemed like a bad dream and that it couldn’t be right”.
A very large mass was found and needed to act aggressively and be treated right away before the cancer spreads from a stage 3 to a stage 4.
Halvorson said, “The way he explained it was that there were 3 layers to the colon and the tumor had gone through all 3 layers and affected 5 lymph nodes on the outside of the colon”.
That following week, she had an appointment and got a port in her chest to receive chemotherapy. Halvorson completed 28 rounds of radiation and 6 weeks of chemotherapy. After her chemo, the tumor was removed along with lymph nodes and her entire rectum. The procedure was very extensive, taking the surgeons 15 hours of operating.
The tumor was sent to a pathologist and everything in the tumor was dead due to the radiation and chemotherapy. During this time, Halvorson was placed on chemo once again and completed 4 more month of chemotherapy. Due to the chemo, she now has neuropathy in her hand and feet and lost most of her hair from it. Halvorson experienced a lot of side effects with her 2nd round of chemo which made her very sensitive to the cold, and winters were very brutal as she recalls coming home and “fell over from the cold and couldn’t breathe cold air. Very rough chemo, it affected my body so much. I was 30 years old and it was difficult, I can’t imagine how older people do it”.
Halvorson’s colon cancer was slow growing and was growing for at least 4 years. She had no family history of colon cancer but she some of her family had other cancers. Her tumor has grown larger than the size of a baseball and filled the entire rectum. Mayo has since then kept the tumor and put it into a bank for research to study for future colorectal cancer patients. During her healing process, she fell into depression with the ileostomy bag.
Halvorson said,
“It made me feel weird… I lost confidence. Is the bag going to leak? Etc. I had to carry supplies for it if it ever leaked. You feel weird. Went through depression with the bag.”
Luckily she didn’t have to wear the colostomy bag full time. Many people have to wear it full time but she only lived with the ileostomy bag for 6 months.
Halvorson exclaimed,
“I can’t imagine having that for my whole life. It took me 2-3 months to learn to do it correctly where it didn’t hurt, leak, etc. It was a long journey.”
When we asked Tamara Halvorson what types of challenges she encountered, she replied:
“Most of it was just dealing with the depression. From the time you find out, am I going to die? Uncertainty, doctors can only do so much, it either works or doesn’t work. Am I going to die? My world is over? I went through a lot mentally, emotionally, and physically. The biggest thing to get through was that. Through it all I would wake up in the morning saying “it could be worse” and that would lift my spirits. Everything that’s still here, I am still here, everything will be alright. Would tell myself this every day. Many people said I didn’t look sick, some people couldn’t see that, was glad that they didn’t see that. My family knew, people closest knew.”

She was offered depression medication but did not take them, because she wanted to fight through that on her own. She wanted to beat it on her own. Depression was one of the hardest. The physical yes, but the mentally getting down made her more down even more.
Halvorson has had an open wound on her stomach from surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove the bag and put her intestines back. She had fluid buildup and went to ER in Minot twice and was hospitalized and now she is healing.
Halvorson says,
“I think from this I will be more outgoing, more seizing of the day and not being scared. I didn’t do anything, no drugs, drinking, smoking, none of that. I have always worked. I want to do more things and go more places, experience life. Want to take more chances, I only have one life. After finding out I was diagnosed I went to Las Vegas and went on the zip line, it was the scariest thing ever (I am afraid of heights), scary but I am going to live my life. I want to do more things like that.”
She also says,
“If you can get out and tell your story, don’t be scared to tell you story. It could influence someone else to go get screened, to get a checkup, to check their health. If I can do this, anyone can do this. Don’t be scared. Just go do it. There is nothing but good that can come of it. Knowledge. If you are scared, especially men, scared of colonoscopy. I think it is more of a man thing to not want to do that. I convinced my brother to get one. Brother you need to get one, you can’t play, this is serious and if something is wrong you need to know.” “People with diabetes should be checked more, they already have complications in health and could trigger other things in your body to happen. Cancer could be genes, something mutated, as a result of something. No one told me this, but I do firmly believe mine was caused from taking the wrong Metformin. I don’t know how true that is but connecting dots that she’s heard from all doctors that’s what she thinks. Diabetics need to be screened.”

Ronald Stiffarm is a 68 year old father, grandfather, and great grandfather from Mandaree, ND. He has four daughters, seven grandsons, seven granddaughters, and one great grandson. While travelling across the plains, Program Manager, Chad Ratigan met with Ronald to hear his story about colorectal cancer screening. Collecting stories from across the Great Plains is a powerful way to promote health and preventative cancer screenings. While we may not be personally affected by colorectal cancer our communities and people we love are. This is Ronald’s journey through the colorectal cancer screening cycle.

It all started one day when Ronald was walking on the treadmill at the Mandaree Fitness Center during his routine exercise. During Ronald’s workout he walked by some ladies who were providing free colorectal cancer (CRC) screenings. They asked him if he wanted a free screening. Having said no the first time, Ronald relented the second time they asked and he decided to get his screening that day.

After completing a FIT test (Fecal Immunochemical Test) that required him to submit a sample to an area lab for testing he received his results. His test came back positive, and Ronald was immediately terrified. Ronald did not know about polyps, and he did not have anyone to talk about what a positive screening meant. From that point, Ronald went 2 weeks without talking to anyone about the topic until he scheduled a follow up to his FIT test, where he would have to get a colonoscopy.

Ronald remembers the colonoscopy going very smoothly. When he woke, the doctor was there to explain the procedure. He remembers becoming good friends with the doctor, and her complimenting him on the procedure. Ronald felt “very safe and the people there were very nice and comforting” with Ronald’s concerns. During his colonoscopy surgery, doctor removed 5 polyps, and sent them off to get checked. Ronald waited and waited for the results to come back. He was worried and thought that no news was good news. When he did follow up the clinic said they had sent a letter with his lab results.

Recently, Ronald went to another colonoscopy where his doctor found some smaller polyps, but everything was ok. Ronald never thought about going in to get screened on purpose until he met Lila and Marilyn at the screening event. He thanks them for getting him screened and he calls them life savers. Ronald remembers his father passing away from colorectal cancer in his 80’s and he now realizes how important it is to get screened for CRC.

Ronald would encourage everyone to take the FIT test and to take care of their health so that they can be here for their loved ones. As a result of his journey through the colorectal cancer screening cycle Ronald now promotes being proactive versus reactive. He also remembers the team advising him to take more fiber. As a 68-year-old man Ronald finally had his first FIT test and colonoscopy. He got lucky and did not have cancer. As Ronald reflected on his experiences with cancer screening he wished he would have started getting regular screenings for colorectal cancer much earlier in his life. Ronald says that getting a FIT test and colonoscopy set his mind at ease, and with routine screening he doesn’t have to worry. Ronald especially wants to let Indian men know that they should go get it done so they can stick around for their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. While Ronald may have been late to start on this journey he is glad he did. He is now taking care of his health and would like to help anyone he can through sharing his story.