A 62-year-old woman from Bedfordshire has credited her pet dog with saving her life after he spent months obsessively nudging her breast, alerting her to a hidden cancer that even doctors couldn't find.
Jacqueline Nunn, a retired catering company owner, was 'very active' and healthy before receiving a shock breast cancer diagnosis in April. The mum-of-one says she only began experiencing pain in her left breast when her six-year-old Biewer Yorkie Barnie became 'determined' on poking the same spot every evening.
Dog's unusual behaviour
Jacqueline said her pup always sat on her right-hand side, until February, when he became intent on positioning himself on her left. The grandma-of-one said Barnie would jab his paw into the exact same area of her left breast, which sparked a pang of pain, for two months, until she decided to go to the doctors for a check-up.
Jacqueline said: "I was fit and healthy before this. I ride horses and motorbikes. I was very active, walking the dogs every day."
"I didn't have any symptoms whatsoever. There was no indication for me to go to the doctors."
"My little dog Barnie always sits on me but it's usually on the right-hand side."
"Then, about two months before I went to the doctors, in February, he started sitting on the left and poking my breast with his paw. He was determined to sit near my left breast."
"I remember thinking 'ow this is painful'. He'd never done that before. He was doing it every evening, come and sit on me and poke my left breast."
"It was the exact same place."
"It made me think perhaps there's something wrong. I felt around my breast, but I couldn't feel anything."
Diagnosis and treatment
After deciding to go for her GP, Jacqueline says her doctor couldn't feel anything of concern, but referred her for a mammogram and further checks. It was during her scan that a consultant discovered a 10mm-sized lump deep inside the milk duct, which was revealed to be stage-1 cancer.
Jacqueline was then diagnosed with stage-1 invasive lobular breast cancer, undergoing an operation to remove the lump as well as radiotherapy to kill any residual cells. Doctors could not believe Jacqueline had discovered the lump because of its size and position, and were 'amazed' when she told them it was only with the help of her determined terrier.
Jacqueline said: "I was shocked. Where my lump was was deep in the milk duct. Lobular cancer is hard to find."
"It wasn't very big so it couldn't be found to touch. They said I could've had it for a year and wouldn't have known it."
"I definitely wouldn't have found this without Barnie."
"The only way it would've been picked up would be my next screening. He saved my life."
"Without him, I wouldn't have gone to the doctors. The consultant even said to me, 'How on earth did you find this, with it being so small?'"
"He said, 'You must really examine yourself,' but I said, I didn't, my dog actually found it. They thought it was amazing. They do say there are dogs that can sniff out cancers."
Cancer-free and grateful
After undergoing an operation and preventative radiotherapy, Jacqueline is now cancer-free and remains grateful to her trusted pooch for helping save her life.
Jacqueline said: "Since I've had all that done, he doesn't bother sitting on that side anymore. I definitely believe dogs have a sixth sense."
"I'm definitely grateful to him. If dogs do something out of the ordinary, like poking in the same spot, don't ignore it."
