Today marks the start of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Beth Neil reports on the cancer known as the silent killer. **********
 Patricia Maher thought she'd never get over the breakdown of her marriage. It left her devastated and she began seeing a counsellor. Just a few months later she found out she had ovarian cancer. But she somehow managed to find the strength she never knew she had to pull through. She said: "When my husband left me at the beginning of 2002, my whole world fell in. "I wasn't coping very well and so saw the doctor a lot. "I'd developed symptoms which everyone thought was Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I had stomach bloating and bad pains, although nothing terribly specific." But, in July, when the symptoms persisted, Patricia, now 55, was sent for an ultrasound scan. The consultant phoned her that night and asked her to get to North Tyneside hospital straightaway. Patricia, a librarian, was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. "I had always felt there was something a bit more serious going on," she says. "I don't know why. Emotionally I was all over the place, but my instincts told me there was more to the symptoms. "So when I was diagnosed, it didn't really come as a colossal shock." Patricia was transferred to Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth hospital where Dr Raj Naik took over her care. She stayed at the QE for three weeks while she recovered from a loop ileostomy and then began a course of chemotherapy. In the December Patricia underwent a radical hysterectomy. Her estranged husband and close friends rallied round to help keep her spirits up, but Patricia says she felt curiously upbeat throughout. "My father died of cancer several years ago and it just wasn't talked about. "The family said it was arthritis which was madness. "It was like he was locked in this prison and nobody could open up. "When I was diagnosed I decided I wasn't going to go that way because I remembered how awful it was. So I've been very open and honest with everybody all the way through and I think it's made things easier to cope with." Patricia's treatment finished in January, 2003 and she stayed in the clear for another year. But at the beginning of 2004, the old symptoms came back and nodules were found on her liver. Patricia was quickly diagnosed with bowel cancer. She was put on another course of chemo, but again, four months after the treatment finished, the cancer returned. She was recently diagnosed with cancer for a fourth time and is about to undergo yet another course of chemo. After three painfully difficult years, Patricia would be forgiven for feeling bitter, but she insists she's never felt a pang of anger. "I've accepted it," she said, calmly. "I look at it as a series of hurdles to get over and just take one day at a time. "One thing I've learned though is to trust your own judgement. When you have cancer you get offered a lot of conflicting advice about different treatments. "But it's always best to follow your instincts. "The staff at the QE and the General have been wonderful. "They have kept me fully informed from start to finish and there has always been somebody there to talk to. "I don't make plans, but I'm here today and the sun is shining and, in a sense, that gives me a lot of freedom. "I also have a dreadful memory so a lot of the really bad times I've forgotten about anyway!" * If you would like any further information about the campaign or ovarian cancer in general, contact WellBeing of Women on 020 7772 6400 or visit the website at www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk * A free leaflet is available by sending an A5 self-addressed envelope marked `Ovarian Cancer' to WellBeing of Women, 27 Sussex Place, Regent's Park, London NW1 4SP. Alternatively, you can download it directly from the website. A fundraising pack is available by calling 020 7772 6350. Donations can also be made on this number. Page 2: Smoke proves hard to escape | 
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