Joni Buffalohead (Bdewakanton Dakota of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) has been getting regular Pap tests since she was a teenager. Following her second pregnancy at 30 years old, she received an abnormal Pap result. She returned to the doctor for follow-up care after giving birth to twin boys where she received the devastating news that she would need to have a full hysterectomy.
Joni shared with us a lot of the thoughts and feelings she had 20 years ago when she had her surgery.
Choosing to have her uterus removed was a difficult decision, especially since Joni and her husband had not yet decided if they were finished having children. Although the procedure would prevent future pregnancies, Joni elected to have the hysterectomy since she had already birthed a daughter and twin boys. Being unable to have children brought up a lot of difficult emotions for her. In the years since the procedure, Joni has found out that she may have had other options at the time.
Joni encourages other women to develop a strong relationship with their provider and have an active voice in their cervical cancer treatments. One regret that she has is that she did not educate herself more about cervical cancer treatments. Now that she has three adult children, she wishes that she would have had the opportunity to have more kids.
Joni’s diagnosis occurred during a time where not much was known about the links between HPV and cervical cancer. At first, Joni questioned who had first contracted HPV and spread it to whom. Questions of infidelity crept into her mind until she learned that HPV is extremely common in men and women and that HPV incidence might have occurred years prior to her marriage. In fact, 80-90% of people come into contact with HPV at some point in their life. Instead of unfairly blaming her husband, she made steps to protect their future generations from HPV-related cancers. She had honest conversations with her children about the importance of caring for your body: “I’ve been open with my children since early on. I taught my daughter to go to the OB-GYN regularly and my sons and daughter made the choice to get the HPV vaccine themselves.”
At the start of her cervical cancer journey, Joni made a promise to herself: “if I survive this, I will lead a more courageous life.” Today, she sings lead in a Native blues band Bluedog. Bluedog’s music gives voice to the struggles of Native people and celebrates the resilience of our people. With the knowledge that Native women experience higher rates of cervical cancer than white women, Joni now uses her voice to advocate for cervical cancer education and regular screening. She urges other women to get screened regularly and to use your voice for those who have gone through a cervical cancer journey: “if you go through it, please be an advocate. With your support, another woman might not have to.”
Thank you, Joni Buffalohead for sharing your story.