Ovarian Cancer Awareness: Celebrating Survivors (NAPSA)—They come from different backgrounds. They have different stories and different motivations. This year, a new program, Celebrating Survivors, salutes women with ovarian cancer and aims to amplify their voices as they generate awareness: it’s time to hear, loud and clear, about the so-called “whispering” cancer. Although new advances in treatment are helping more women to live with ovarian cancer, the American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005 more than 22,000 women will be diagnosed and more than 16,000 will die from the disease. Currently, there is no reliable method to detect ovarian cancer in the early stages. Symptoms of the disease often mimic those of other, less serious conditions, making it harderto detect. The sooner ovarian cancer is found and treated, the better a woman’s chance of recovery. Attention to symptoms can improve the odds of finding the cancer early and treating it successfully. If you have any of the symptoms listed here, talk to your doctor right away. As a tribute to the women who are living with this disease, and in Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer MayInclude: A persistently swollen abdomen Bloating An urgentneed to urinate Abdominal discomfort or pain Nausea diarrhea or constipation Loss of appetite Abnormal or postmenopausal bleeding recognition of the family members, friends and caregivers who have supported and encouraged them, Tibotec Therapeutics, a division of Ortho Biotech Products, L.P., has launched Celebrating Survivors, a program for women with ovarian cancer to connect, and to receive and exchange information about the disease. By providing women with the tools and resources they need to build and expand survivor networks in their own communities, Celebrating Survivors aims to make ovarian cancer awareness a year-round pursuit. Visit www.celebratingsur vivors.com to learn more about the Celebrating Survivors program and to find out about survivor networks.
