A woman named Stephanie Herfel didn’t know that her Siberian husky, Sierra, was going far beyond what it is to be a human’s best friend when, one day, she started feeling pain in her abdomen.
In 2013, Stephanie moved to Wisconsin from California, but soon after, her body changed surprisingly. She started to rapidly gain weight, all of it concentrated in her belly as if she was pregnant. After the pain started, she knew that something was serious and decided to go to the ER for help.
Dismissing Her
Once attended to by a doctor, Stephanie was told that she had an ovarian cyst. She was given medication and told that the cyst was benign. After starting the medication, her health improved.
Months passed, and Stephanie wasn’t worried about her previous condition. But after returning home from a vacation, her husky, Sierra, started acting strangely.
Sierra had been by Stephanie’s side since she was a nine-month-old pup. Stephanie had adopted her from the husky her son had given her after he had to leave for military duty overseas.
At first, Sierra’s behavior was dismissed as just missing her owner. Stephanie didn’t worry too much about it, but as she insisted, she started to understand. Stephanie said, “Sierra put her nose on my belly and pushed very intently, and I just thought she missed me.”
Her Due Diligence
Sierra’s concerning behavior wouldn’t stop there. The happy-go-lucky husky hid away from her owner and was only found by Stephanie after an hour of searching. The poor animal was crying when she was found.
This was Stephanie’s last push to understand that Sierra was upset and not about anything minor. The dog’s mom decided to do her due diligence and booked an appointment with another gynecologist.
The last doctor dismissed the cyst as benign, and the new gynaecologist would take a month to get results on it. Unfortunately, when the results were shared with her, the news was anything but good.
Sierra Was Right Again
Stephanie’s new diagnosis was stage 3 ovarian cancer, something that’s incredibly hard to diagnose because its symptoms overlap several other conditions.
The news wasn’t good, but Stephanie was grateful for telling Sierra something was wrong. She even told her doctor that Sierra had sensed that something was wrong with her. Instead of being dismissive, he told her that he believed dogs could be extremely accurate if they sensed something was wrong.
Thankfully, there was good news for Stephanie. Because Sierra had caught the cancer before it had gotten any worse, Stephanie could opt for a long surgery that would take the cancer out. She agreed, and after ten hours of surgery, the doctors told her that the cancer was gone.
Trusting Sierra
For the next year and a half, Stephanie thought the doctors were right, but Sierra’s concerning behavior returned during athe trip away for Independence Day. Others dismissed Sierra as being in an unfamiliar environment, but Stephanie trusted Sierra’s gut.
She decided to go back to the hospital, where she got a CT scan. After the results came back, doctors told her that the cancer was now in her liver. Stephanie went through treatments to get rid of the cancer and enjoyed nearly three years without any more incidents.
But when Sierra’s behavior returned, Stephanie knew immediately that her dog had found something for a third time. After returning to the hospital and getting another diagnosis from doctors, she was told that her stage 3 ovarian cancer had come back.
Stephanie is still getting treatments and has managed to find the good in life. She is now married and still keeps Sierra close to her side.
Source:
Dog sniffs out owner’s cancer for the third time
Stay connected with us for more stories like this! Follow us to get the latest updates or hit the Follow button at the top of this article, and let us know what you think by leaving your feedback below. We’d love to hear from you!
