My dog saved my life… by constantly sniffing my bum: Grandmother, 51, thanks Border Collie Brian for alerting doctors to her anal cancer
A grandmother claims her bully dog saved her life by constantly sniffing her butt.
Lindsey Thwaites, from Chapeltown in South Yorkshire, was eventually diagnosed with anal cancer.
She was afraid to seek medical advice because her two-year-old Border Collie Brian “wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Mrs Thwaites, 51, has suffered from haemorrhoids since giving birth in the 1990s, but started experiencing pain and some bleeding in May.
Lindsey Thwaites, 51, blamed her discomfort on painful piles, but after her dog Brian kept sniffing her butt, she made an appointment with her GP and was eventually diagnosed with cancer
One night she woke up shocked to find herself covered in blood, which had soaked through her underwear and pajamas.
Mrs. Thwaites shrugged it off as a possible menstruation, cleaned herself up and went back to bed.
But Brian apparently sensed something was wrong.
Mrs Thwaites, married to 69-year-old Dave, then discovered a lump the size of a marble in her genitals.
She credits her dog’s persistent attention for persuading her to visit her GP to get it checked out – which ultimately led to her diagnosis of stage three anal cancer just a month later.
Sharing her ordeal to encourage people to overcome their shame and have anything out of the ordinary examined, Ms Thwaites said: ‘Brian helping me saved my life, he urged me to go to my GP.
“Brian only comes for love when he wants love, but he just won’t leave me alone.
Brian, a two-and-a-half-year-old border collie, kept sniffing the same area, causing Mrs Thwaites to worry he could smell cancer
Mrs Thwaites, married to 69-year-old Dave Thwaites (pictured left), shares her ordeal to encourage people to overcome their shame and investigate anything out of the ordinary
‘He kept sniffing my butt the whole time and he followed me, I was like, ‘Brian, stop it.’
‘I said to my husband, ‘He scares me because I know dogs can smell cancer.’
Recalling her diagnosis, Mrs Thwaites added: ‘The first thing that goes through your mind is that you are going to die.’
Before Mrs Thwaites went to the doctor she thought the pain was just due to haemorrhoids, but this time the cream did not help the pain go away.
She said: ‘I have always suffered from haemorrhoids since I had my first son 32 years ago.
‘They came and went, sometimes they were a little painful, other times I didn’t know I had them.
‘If they were a bit sore or itchy I would use some cream, other times I would leave them and they would just go away.
‘But these didn’t work, they got worse and felt bigger and bigger.’
Since her diagnosis in June, she now faces grueling rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Mrs Thwaites says the cancer is so ‘painful and uncomfortable’ that waking up, sitting up and lying on her back causes her pain.
She said: ‘It’s like shoving a grapefruit halfway up your butt and letting the rest out.
‘I had to have a stoma bag put on because I couldn’t go to the toilet. The tumor is so big that it blocks everything.’
But with the support of her dog Brian, she doesn’t let the cancer get her down.
She said: ‘Brian is great, he comes to cuddle all the time. He’s so friendly to me, he lays down on the back of the couch and puts his head on my shoulder as if to say, “I’m taking care of you.”
“He’s been my therapy dog. He’s my little superhero.’
Ms Thwaites shares her diagnosis to encourage people to overcome their shame and have anything unusual checked by a doctor.
She said, “Don’t be ashamed, the doctors have seen it all before.
‘If you find a lump, something doesn’t feel right or you’re bleeding, go to the doctors and let them examine you.
Ms Thwaites says the tumor is so ‘painful and uncomfortable’ that waking up, sitting up and lying on her back causes her pain. She has also been given a stoma bag because she can no longer go to the toilet due to the tumor
Brian has been a ‘superhero’ and comforted Mrs Thwaites during her battle with cancer. From this month she now faces grueling chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments at Jessop Hospital in Sheffield, West Yorkshire.
“So many people said they didn’t know you could get cancer there.”
Dogs have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and can pick up ‘volatile organic compounds’, which are released in the early stages of many cancers.
Scientific studies have even shown that puppies can separate blood and tissue samples donated by ovarian cancer patients and healthy people by picking up small amounts of VOCs.
Dogs have also been found to sniff out prostate cancer in a man’s urine.
It is said that if a dog discovers cancer in its owner, he or she may try to warn it by paying more attention, sniffing it, ‘comforting’ it by gently licking its hands or feet, or without reason to lie down next to him.