What if there were a cancer that had practically no symptoms, no routine screenings and the few symptoms that might exist were dismissed by your doctor? And what if, when the cancer was finally diagnosed, it would probably be too late to save you?

And what if that cancer could have been found and cured if there'd been more awareness? Wouldn't you be downright mad? Sure you would. I was four years ago. But unfortunately, this still describes most women's experience with ovarian cancer today.

Hang on though, ovarian cancer only strikes women over 60, right? Especially those who don't have children? That's what I thought four years ago. But, while the average age of diagnosis is 63, some 30 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are under 55. I was diagnosed at 39, when my twins were 2 years old.

Have breast cancer in the family? No risk of ovarian cancer then? My mother and aunt had breast cancer, but I had no idea that it could also put me at increased risk for ovarian cancer.

It's this lack of information and the subtle symptoms that sent me from a clean bill of health in March of 2006 to advanced stage ovarian cancer in November of that year. Four years on, an eight-hour operation, twelve rounds of chemotherapy and 2 clinical drug trials, I'm in remission. But the story doesn't often end here.

What if I told you that one in five women afflicted with breast cancer will die from the condition? For ovarian cancer, it's two out of three women. Ovarian cancer has a lower survival rate than any other cancer specific to women. Why? Because even though 80 percent will achieve remission from first-line therapy, 80 percent will get a recurrence, which is even harder to treat. Only abiyt 30 percent of all women diagnosed with the illness will live five years.

So why do only 15 percent of women get diagnosed early, when their chance of surviving is 92 percent? Because women, and sometimes their physicians, aren't knowledgeable enough about its often vague symptoms and don't consider it a possibility.

So what are these symptoms? And why are they so difficult to diagnose? They include: bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full quickly, changes in bowel movements, a frequent or urgent need to urinate. Other, even vaguer, symptoms can include gas, fatigue and cycle irregularity (hard to spot for peripausal or menopausal women).

In truth, which one of us doesn't have some of these each month? It could be anything right? A dodgy meal, time of the month, just getting older.

But if you have any of these at least three times a week for more than a couple of months, go see your physician or gynecologist. If you think it could be ovarian cancer, insist, yes, insist, on a CA-125 blood test (the cancer marker for this disease), and a transvaginal ultrasound. It could just save your life.

In the six months before I was diagnosed, I had three of the symptoms above. If I'd gone to the doctor earlier, would the disease have been caught earlier? Yes. Did that few months delay have a profound effect on my chance of getting to see my daughters grow up? Yes. Do I kick myself every single day that I didn't go earlier? Absolutely yes.

That's why every woman needs to at least know that it's a possibility. So cut this out and stick it on your wall, give it to a friend. Go to our website and download the fact sheet and email it to all your friends.

Cancer changed my life beyond all measure. At 39, I was the healthiest, most active kid on the block. Never been in hospital, never needed a doctor. Me? Cancer? No way. It happened to me. Please don't let it happen to you.

-- Kay Kerbyson lives in West Richland with her family. She is a local and national cancer advocate, an Inspirational Speaker and President/Founder of Ovarian Cancer Together! Inc. Write her at Kay@ovariancancertogether.org.