she had ovarian cancer in 2003 she was also told it might already be too late to save her life.

“My cancer was found at stage 3C which means it was very far along,” Jones said. “Sadly, that’s not unusual in the case of ovarian cancer to have it found so late, because of a lack of education about the disease.”

Jones credits her survival to one man, Gaffney’s Dr. Steven Lewis from Upstate Carolina Medical Center.

“Dr. Lewis was my gynecologist here in Gaffney and he was the one who found the cancer. I credit him as being the reason I’m alive today. He told me about the cancer and directed me to the specialists at Gibbs Cancer Center in Spartanburg.”

Now, two years into remission, Jones has taken it upon herself to try and help others who have the disease find it sooner — and hopefully increase their chances of beating it — by becoming a representative with the South Carolina Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

Although other variations of cancer receive more widespread attention, according to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) it is one of the most consistently lethal cancers in the world today. In 2005, 22,200 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and an estimated 16,200 will die of the disease.

“One of the things we’re working on is to get people to ‘think teal’,” Jones said. “The breast cancer awareness campaign has adopted pink as their color and we have adopted teal. Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer, not only because many women are unaware of the risk, but so many doctors out there don’t know how to spot the disease. And even after it is found, there can be difficulty in treating it. I was thankful to have the specialists at Gibbs. We have seen women who are operated on by surgeons who are not specialists and they don’t survive. Women need to know the symptoms — it isn’t found by conventional methods. So many women are going for their OB/GYN checkups and they think everything is fine.”

September has been designated National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month by the OCNA and the group has kicked off a public awareness campaign dubbed “Turn up the Volume!”

The effort was developed to encourage women and doctors to listen more closely to subtle symptoms that may represent ovarian cancer. These symptoms can include abdominal pain, unusual bloating, urgent urination, nausea, gas and indigestion. Although ovarian cancer is the most frequently fatal gynecologic cancer, the chance for survival increases significantly if the disease is detected and treated early.

“Our mission at the South Carolina Ovarian Cancer Foundation is strictly one of education and awareness,” Jones added. “But I do handle the support groups for Cherokee County. If anyone out there is struggling with the disease, or has friends or family members who are, I urge them to contact us.”

For more information, contact Jones at 864-809-5901; or email her at “cricket@line1net.net”