Mums ovarian cancer fight

A mum from Birkenhead who's battling ovarian cancer for a third time, is taking her fight to raise awareness of the disease to parliament.

Debbie Taaffe from Noctorum on the Wirral will join the charity Target Ovarian Cancer for a parliamentary reception.

Debbie hopes to raise awareness of the cancer, in order to increase diagnosis and improve survival rates from the disease. 

Every year 6,800 woman are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, two thirds of those will die.

If ovarian cancer is caught easy the chances of survival to 5 years is between 70% and 90% 

Debbie Taaffe from Birkenhead speaks to Heart one year on.

The symptoms are:

- Persistent pelvic and tummy pain

- Increased abdominal size / persistent bloating - not bloating that comes and goes.

- Difficulty eating and feeling full quickly.

Occasionally other symptoms such as urinary symptoms, changes in bowel habit, extreme fatigue or back pain may also be experienced on their own or at the same time as those listed above.

We have a symptoms diary at www.ovarian.org.uk which women can take to their GP if they feel they need a bit of back up in asking to be tested for ovarian cancer.