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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, September 13, 2012 · 30 Follow Oakville Beaver staff on Twitter @OakvilleBeaver or @NewsHooked @DavidLea6 @DominikKurek @BeaverSports or @Halton_Photog Health Know signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer Oakville Beaver By Kathy Yanchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Awareness saves lives. A simple, but critical message Bev Turner repeats when she speaks to women about ovarian cancer. "Know what the symptoms are. Go to your doctor and insist on a transvaginal ultrasound. "That's the key," says Turner, a 60-year-old ovarian cancer survivor. It was two years ago when Turner, a retired Burlington teacher, organized a golf tournament to raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Canada (OCC), not because she had cancer, but because two friends had been diagnosed with the disease. "Before the tournament, I was having these symptoms and they were symptoms that both these girls had and I thought, `I'm too busy, I'll look after it after the golf tournament.'" Her symptoms included bloating, digestive and bowel issues, said Turner. "After the golf tournament I was lying on the couch for a week, my back hurt, so I went into the doctor and that started the chain of events. I had an internal ultrasound, which showed a black spot, which sent me to a gynecologist and they really didn't think it was anything. She thought it was probably a cyst of some sort. So I had surgery six months later." Turner returned to the gynecologist for her six-week checkup. "I haven't heard anything so I think everything is OK and I go in and say, `So, I guess no news is good news,' and she says, `Well actually we found a tumour in one of your ovaries and we want you to go in for a total hysterectomy next week.' "They say one in 70 (lifetime risk of a woman developing ovarian cancer). What are the odds that three of us in the same circle of friends could have ovarian cancer and all three of us had three different kinds? Mine was this type found in younger woman. She (gynecologist) said, `I've never seen this in someone your age. The type you have is very rare and for your age it's even more rare.'" Turner's ovarian cancer was deemed Stage 1 and it had not spread. "So I was pretty darn lucky. When I speak to anyone I say that if it wasn't for my angels, my friends, I would never in a million years have thought, could this possibly be? Because I didn't know, before them (her friends) the symptoms of ovarian cancer." There are 17,000 Canadian women currently living with ovarian cancer, according to OCC. There is no screening test and the disease is often overlooked and under-diagnosed because its symptoms -- bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full quickly or difficulty eating and urgent or frequent urination -- mimic others. "If it's caught in the early stages, you're in good shape, but unfortunately, most women by the time it's actually caught, they're too far down the road," said Turner. "I guess I'm kind of the poster girl for early detection, and to know the symptoms and push your doctor to test." Retired four years ago, Turner is now involved with OCC presenting free Knowledge is Power workshops to community groups, women's organizations, corporations, employees and health-care providers in an effort to increase awareness. It was through the Survivors Teaching Students program she met Cynthia Bradburn, founder and chair of the Burlington Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope. Bradburn, now 37, was diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancer four years ago. In her quest to increase awareness, Bradburn brought the OCC Walk of Hope -- now in its 11th year nationwide -- to Burlington. Last Sunday, the third annual Burlington Walk of Hope was held at Nelson Park. In its first year, more than 250 participants raised more than $68,000; in its second year, more than 550 participants raised more than $118,700. This year Bradburn was hoping to raise $125,000. 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