This year's Sept. 16 Teal Ribbon Run/Walk in Albany promises to have more NYSUT staff and supporters than ever, in honor of union accountant Laura Kerzic, who died of ovarian cancer in June after spending years gearing up with twin hopes: education and successful treatment.

This year, the money raised will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund in Kerzic's name. The walk is the chief fundraiser of the support group Caring Together, Inc., which reports donations of more than $200,000 for ovarian cancer research since 2002, along with helping the national group Gilda's Club open a Capital Region location.

Group members speak with medical students as part of a program to educate them about this hard-to-detect illness, often dubbed "the cancer that whispers." Caring Together is also supported by a Glens Falls group that donates proceeds from an October golf benefit.

Kerzic's quest to educate continued throughout her journey. Retired Greenwich teacher Linda Austin, a member of Caring Together, noted that Kerzic "actually had, in her hospital room, symptom cards and pins" that she would give to nurses and people who came to visit.

Austin, who is herself undergoing her fourth round of treatment in three years for the disease, met Kerzic through Caring Together.

"She was certainly a pleasure to know; very upbeat, sweet and hopeful," said Austin, a member of the Greenwich Teachers Association.

NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer Ivan Tiger described Kerzic as "one of the bravest people I have ever known. Faced with a horrible illness and years of treatments that wore her down physically, she never complained, never said 'Why me?'"

Recently, several national groups came to a consensus about the symptoms of ovarian cancer, Austin reported. These include:

• Vague but persistent gastrointestinal complaints
• Frequent or urgent urination
• Weight gain or loss
• Ongoing fatigue
• Pelvic or abdominal swelling or pain, bloating
• Pain during intercourse

Annual recto-vaginal pelvic exams are urged for all women. Further tests to determine the presence of ovarian cancer should include a CA-125 blood test, a transvaginal ultrasound, a CT or PET scan, or surgery. It is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers in the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.caringtogetherny.org/

NYSUT staff who have been touched by Kerzic's presence and her struggle will honor her with a team formerly headed by Kerzic herself: Laura's Lucky Stars.