Jo Ann’s Story

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.”