We credit animals with so much from detecting landmines to saving someone from being kidnapped to saving another animal’s life.
Now, we can add detecting cancer to that list.
A pair of sisters from New Jersey say it was because of their dog, Daisy that they each discovered a lump in their breasts.
“This one jumped on my chest and I was like ‘ow that kind of hurt,” Amanda Tasca told ABC7.
Amanda discovered the lump in her breast when her pet pug jumped on her chest. The tumor was about the size of a grape.
Then, while her older sister Amy Niosi was watching TV, without a bra, she found a lump as well. When she put a bra on, she couldn’t feel it anymore.
“Mine was like a grape and when she was like, ‘oh mine is like a clementine,’ I was like what?!,” Amanda said.
Amy was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer – it had also spread to her lymph nodes.
The two sisters, who are in their mid-30s and have tested negative for the BRCA gene were shocked.
Both sisters had double mastectomies, while Amy also received chemotherapy and radiation.
Despite their diagnoses, their doctor believes their prognoses are good.
“This is definitely a first for me. Generally we recommend screening mammograms, but whatever way we can discover things as quickly as we can,” Dr. Deena Mary Atieh Graham said.
It’s recommended that women start getting annual mammograms when they turn 40, though everyone is highly encouraged to check themselves.
And that’s what the sisters are urging people to do now.
“If you have any kind of inkling or you feel anything, even if you’re under the age of 40 where you normally wouldn’t get mammograms, just go to the doctor get it checked,” Amanda said.
For these two, Daisy helped them check themselves, and in doing so the adorable little pug potentially saved their lives.
“I 100% know it was her.”
What a good girl!
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