Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the 38-year-old reality star known for MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” has undergone a hysterectomy to treat Stage 1 cervical cancer, six months after first disclosing the diagnosis. In a video posted to social media from her recovery bed, she described the procedure as “not great” and detailed the extent of the surgery, which included removal of the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and part of the vagina, while preserving the ovaries to avoid early menopause.

The operation, which also repaired diastasis recti—a separation of the abdominal muscles common after childbirth—was captured in footage from her arrival at the hospital to the operating room. Polizzi recounted feeling “nervous and anxious” and “hysterically bawling” before being given a sedative, but said she was determined to count to ten before the anaesthesia took effect, exceeding the typical three seconds.

Polizzi has used her platform to stress the role of regular Pap smears in detecting her cancer at an early stage. The American Cancer Society found that cervical cancer diagnoses rose 2% annually among women in their 30s and 40s from 2012 to 2019. While she has not discussed the cause of her cancer, HPV is considered the primary cause of most cervical cancers, with about eight in ten women contracting an HPV infection before age 50, according to the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center.

“It’s a scary thing and a lot of us women deal with it, and no one really talks about it,” she said, adding that she hopes to be cancer-free. She closed her message by urging followers: “Get your Pap smears, okay?”