DECATUR - Leslie Juneau, 62, wears a teal ribbon on the collar of her shirt and beaded bracelet of the same color around her wrist. She has been wearing the jewelry for more than nine years now and only occasionally fields questions about their meaning.

"I find that people for the most part aren't very curious," she said with a soft-spoken, Southern lilt, evidence of her Louisiana origins.

But those who ask learn that teal is the nationally recognized ribbon color for awareness of ovarian cancer and support for those dealing with the disease.

In early 2000, Juneau started experiencing a strange symptom, a vague abdominal bloating, different from anything she'd felt before. More curious than anything else, she headed to the doctor - just to be safe.

"They were nonspecific symptoms," Juneau said. "That was the only symptom I had."

Her physician at the time felt a small mass in her abdomen during a pelvic examination. He thought it might be a fibroid, she said. Juneau had an ultrasound, then a transvaginal sonogram, and soon she was going into surgery, all to confirm a diagnosis she had never considered.

When Juneau awoke from surgery, her doctor stood by the side of her bed with tears in his eyes and told her that she had ovarian cancer. It was stage I, which is rare, as the disease usually is diagnosed in its advanced stages.

Since the initial cancer was treated, Juneau has had several recurrences of the disease, each with an increasingly shorter period of remission. In 2004, 2006 and 2008, Juneau again battled the disease. Her most recent chemotherapy was in March of 2008, but a blistering skin reaction shortened that regimen from four to three treatments.

Juneau is serious about the way she deals with the disease and about spreading awareness of its symptoms to other women.

According to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, the most common symptoms of the cancer are pelvic or abdominal discomfort or pain, vague but ongoing gastrointestinal problems such as indigestion, nausea and gas, frequent or urgent urination, bowel changes, unexplained weight gain or loss, swelling, bloating or a full feeling in the pelvic or abdominal area or ongoing fatigue that seems unusual.

These symptoms occur in many conditions, Juneau said, but women should listen to their bodies, go to the doctor when something doesn't feel right and be assertive at their examinations, suggesting the possibility of ovarian cancer to their physicians.

"The information is out there, and the doctors are out there, and it is up to the women to know the symptoms, to know what they are and to get to their doctor as soon as they can," she said.

With the similarity to many gastrointestinal disorders, it's easy to get on the wrong diagnostic track, Juneau said.

"As all of this takes time, the tumors are growing," she said.

Jackie O'Daffer, 72, was diagnosed with stage III endometrial/ovarian cancer eight years ago. She hadn't had a physical for several years and was having some stomach problems when a friend forced her to go to the doctor. O'Daffer's mother died of breast cancer at age 41.

"When you have pain, most of the time, you don't think anything about it," O'Daffer said. "But the bloating and the digestion problems and those things, women will think they just have heartburn and take some Tums or something, but it could be something more serious."

Some ovarian cancer advocacy groups are going into medical schools to talk to new doctors about the disease's symptoms, Juneau said.

"It's kind of hard to detect," O'Daffer said. "We're even making doctors more aware of what to look for."

According to the coalition's Web site, www.ovarian.org, there is no consistent, reliable screening currently being done for all women, but those who have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, experience some of the symptoms mentioned above or have an abnormal pelvic exam can request that their physicians perform a couple tests.

A transvaginal sonogram, which aided in Juneau's diagnosis, is an ultrasound done through the vagina to detect the cancer. According to the coalition, a CA-125 blood test can detect a protein produced by ovarian cancer cells. However, the test is not always reliable, as numbers are sometimes elevated due to noncancerous conditions or low despite the presence of cancer.

All women should receive an annual pelvic examination starting at age 18, the coalition advised. According to its Web site, ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women between the ages of 35 and 74. One in about every 60 women will develop the cancer in her lifetime.

O'Daffer was cancer-free for almost five years when she had a recurrence on her lung, which required another round of treatment. Throughout her experiences with cancer, she has strived to maintain a positive attitude. Her family, doctors and friends serve as her support system.

A local ovarian cancer support group was started by Dr. Joseph Velek. His wife, Diane Velek, died from the disease in 2003. The group meets on the third Monday of each month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Decatur Memorial Hospital in the rehabilitation conference room. When the new cancer center opens in November, the group will meet there.

Velek, Juneau and O'Daffer are regular attendees.

"It gives me a group of women who are sensitive to my feelings and my needs because they have been there and we are made aware of treatments of other women in our group that might work for us," Juneau said of the group. "It gives you a place to go and cry if you need to."

"We are there to listen," O'Daffer said. "Maybe they had a bad day, and we are there to hear the good news, too."

agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968