Heeding the whisper of intuition: September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month - here's a look at the disease, which arrives so quietly the cancer is often diagnosed far too late

The symptoms of ovarian cancer, if they exist at all, are so subtle the disease has its own slogan: "It whispers, so listen."

Regina Randolph listened, but it was too late. After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, she endured a full hysterectomy and a few rounds of chemotherapy. She entered remission, and everyone thought she had the cancer beat. But the cancer came back, and she died on July 29, 2010. She was 58.

"She is -- was -- she did not want a lot of attention on her," says Randolph's daughter, Lindsay Baker, of Cape Girardeau. "She had a sweet spirit and was always doing things for other people. She never wanted the focus on her. A lot of people didn't even know she had cancer. I don't recall her ever crying or being upset about it. She said, 'Cancer picked the wrong woman to mess with.'"

The trouble with ovarian cancer is the symptoms mimic what many women go through on a monthly basis: bloating, abdominal pain, fatigue, perhaps a change in bowel habits. Randolph also had difficulty eating and felt full after only a few bites of food. When she developed a persistent dry cough and felt short of breath, she brought her concerns to her doctor, who ordered a CT scan for her lungs.

It turns out, she had fluid in her lungs and one of them had collapsed. After a few more tests, her doctor determined the cause was ovarian cancer. Randolph had surgery to remove the affected areas, and when doctors discovered there was more cancer than they first thought, she also had chemotherapy. She was in remission for about a year while doctors continued to monitor her condition.

"Like any cancer, in the early stages it can be very curable. The problem is that there are no early symptoms, and in most cases, ovarian cancer is not diagnosed until late in the spread of the disease," says Dr. Joseph Jacob of Cape Gynecologic Oncology. It's a very sneaky disease, he says, and fewer than 40 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer can be cured.

At the beginning of 2010, Randolph began feeling sick. A PET scan showed blockage in her bowel area, but doctors figured she was constipated, and they didn't connect it to her history of ovarian cancer.

On July 4, Randolph decided she couldn't take it anymore -- she was constantly sick, and she had lost a lot of weight. She went to the emergency room, where doctors finally connected the blockage with the cancer. She had surgery, and "the cancer was everywhere," Baker says. Doctors estimated Randolph had a month left to live, and she died three weeks later.

Now, Baker wants other women to know about the early signs of ovarian cancer and to see their doctor whenever something doesn't feel right.

"Listen to your body. If you know something is off, don't be afraid to talk to your doctor," she says. "I'd rather be too cautious than not cautious enough."

In addition to regular posts on her Facebook and Twitter pages, Baker is often decked out in teal, the color representing ovarian cancer awareness. She even chose teal as her wedding color.

"Teal became my favorite color. This is what made it my favorite color," she says. "People probably get sick of me, but I don't care, because they might remember it."

Baker knows she is now at a higher risk for ovarian cancer herself because her mother had it. She sees her OB/GYN twice a year instead of once, and she also has an ultrasound and CA125 blood test once a year to screen for early signs of ovarian cancer.

"Some research suggests that use of oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer," says Dr. Heather Cugini, an OB/GYN at Women First of SoutheastHEALTH. "If a woman had a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, she should ask her doctor how that family history affects her personal risk. If she is a potential carrier for a genetic-related ovarian cancer, she can have testing done through her OB/GYN or in some cases her PMD [primary medical doctor]."

Jacob sometimes encourages women with a very high risk for ovarian cancer to have their fallopian tubes and eggs surgically removed once they're finished with childbirth.

Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee a zero percent chance of getting ovarian cancer, says Cugini, and the best thing you can do is be in tune with your body so you're immediately aware of any changes.

"I am a firm believer in women's intuition," she says. "If a woman is worried about a symptom she is having, the best thing would be to contact her provider."

Julia Abernathy of Perryville, Missouri, was only 23 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer seven years ago. She remembers feeling uncomfortable in her abdominal area; she also had some lower back pain and she had lost weight. But she figured she was sore from exercise, and besides, what woman isn't happy to shed a few pounds? When she noticed what felt like a tumor on her abdomen, she decided to give her doctor a call, even though it wasn't time for her annual exam.

"I knew it wasn't right for my body. It was not my normal 'how I should feel,'" she says. "I was tired -- I shouldn't have been that tired at 23. I didn't know something was going on, but I knew it wasn't right."

She was referred to Dr. Jacob in Cape Girardeau, who diagnosed her with ovarian cancer. She had one ovary and one fallopian tube removed, followed by four months of chemotherapy.

Fortunately for Abernathy, the cancer had been caught early enough that it had only affected the surrounding tissue and no major organs. Seven years later, she is still in great health, and she was even able to have a child after her bout with ovarian cancer.

"Be in tune to your body. If you don't think something is right, get checked out," she says. "It's worth it to take care of yourself and try to catch anything. I was even blessed with a child after that. Life goes on."