By Jane Elliott BBC News Online health staff

The symbol of ovarian cancer

When Helen suffered agonising pains after a night out she knew there was something terribly wrong.

At first doctors thought Helen, who had always had painful periods, had endometriosis or ovarian cysts. But within a month doctors diagnosed ovarian cancer and spelt out Helen's stark choices.

Two years ago, aged just 30, she was told she would need a hysterectomy if she was to have a good chance of surviving more than five years.

Even before she had thought of having children Helen was told she had lost her chance - something she found very hard to accept.

'Seems selfish'

"You don't expect something like that to happen when you haven't had children and haven't even thought about having them. To have a hysterectomy at 30 was a total shock.

"It seems selfish, but that was one of the hardest things to get over. Especially when everyone around me is pregnant or having children.

Cancer does change your perception on life. You realise how fragile life is Helen

"But I do think that if I ever decide to have children then I will probably adopt."

When doctors got the results back from the operation they told Helen that her cancer had spread to her womb and that she would need chemotherapy.

She lost her hair and put on five stones, but she refused to let her treatment destroy her life.

Despite her illness Helen managed to keep working part-time as a journalist.

Within weeks of the last blast of chemo she was working full time and accepted a post in Russia, covering the Moscow theatre siege.

She admits she sees her life very differently now, treating each day as precious and seizing all the opportunities she can.

She now plans to pursue her dreams by working as a freelance reporter based in the Ukraine.

"Cancer does change your perception on life. You realise how fragile life is.

"I don't like going in cars now because I know how common it is to have car accidents.

Odds

"You find that after something like this that you don't worry any more about the small things.

"When I was in hospital there was a girl of 24 who was being treated for ovarian cancer and she was terminally ill so it put it all in perspective.

"Now I really go for what I want. I don't see the purpose in dreaming things, you have got to go for them. I know that I could die.

"I know that the cancer has gone away, but at the back of my mind there is always the worry that I might not live more than five years. Only 30% of people live more than five years. The odds are stacked against you."

She admits that before she got ovarian cancer herself she had known very little about it, but that she was shocked to find out how many women the disease did affect and eventually kill.

OVARIAN CANCER The fourth most common cancer in UK women Each year 6,800 cases are diagnosed and of these 4,660 women die annually Of women diagnosed this year only 30% will be alive in five years time

WellBeing, the health research charity for women and babies and research and fundraising arm of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, has devoted �1m to researching the genetics of ovarian cancer and helping prevent it.

Its funding has helped researchers set up the largest register in the world of families with several cases of ovarian cancer.

WellBeing spokesperson Sam Heggie said: "WellBeing's campaign is about raising awareness of this disease and encouraging women to be more proactive about their gynaecological health.

"We hope that by focusing on ovarian cancer it will help to raise much-needed funds towards research into this area - you only have to look at the statistics to see there is still much more work to be done."

Teal Ribbons, the international symbol for ovarian cancer, will be on sale in all Bhs stores, Phase Eight and Fitness First clubs throughout March for �1 and all the proceeds will go towards research.