My new avatar pic
 

is of my savior cat Bailey. Many of you have PM'd me and asked me if a cat really found my cancer, the answer is yes. In a nutshell, I had a mammo 6 months prior to dx and a breast exam 2 months prior to dx, nothing there. I took in this stray and was playing with him and he kept going to the area, I kept pushing him away so he got mad and nailed me right on the spot. Had he not done that who knows when it would have been found. Coincidence, maybe but I still think he is my savior.

I have always been a dog lover and wasn't sure I was going to keep him but afer that he is now my beloved pet. I thought he was a she so I named him Bailey. (when he was still running around outside) Oh well, it still fits.

Just thought I would share and talk about something alittle more upbeat, my pet. My dog is still not happy about it tho, lol. Hope everyone has a great holiday.
Darlene

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Darlene,

Thanks for sharing your story about Bailey. Pets are wonderful, and I truly believe he meant something when he was comming to your area, he was telling you something serious was happening there. God bless you for having him.

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OMG!
You look gorgeous!!!
I hope you continue to feel as good as you look!
With love, and a big hug...
Denise

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Great! sent your post to my cat lover friends. I've heard of dogs also finding cancer but alas I don't think my sweet avatar, Tania would but she's very healing.
love to you and your pussycat
sarah

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Darlene,

Amazing story! I had a somewhat similar one. We had my dog for 2 years before my diagnosis and he always slept on the bed. Right before I was diagnosed we kept waking up because our dog would be standing on my husband's chest whining. (He is 20 pounds max.) We'd ask him if he needed to go out and he would just pace towards me and whine to my husband. We started to worry that something was wrong with my husband but he felt silly going to the Doctor because of our dog. Then I was finally referred to a specialist and diagnosed. Once I started treatment, our dog stopped waking us up and he has never done it since. I'll tell you though, if he does it again, I will be in a panic!

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You absolutely do look beautiful, and what a sweet story. My dog, also, did something. Actually it is my teenage dog's son. He is my son's constant companion, and slept with my son every night. Shortly before my diagnosis, I would wake up every night with this dog in my bed whining, curled up almost on top of me. I think he could sense I was sick, and was trying to comfort me.

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We can't have any pets because I started having allergies after my mother passed away 7 years ago. Our family got a golden retriever three weeks after she passed and over the next 1 1/2 years I had four sinus infections and we had to give her away. Last summer three dogs on three separate occasions jumped on me. Two of them were little dogs and continuously scratched at my legs so much that their owners had to pull them off me. The third was our former pet who I had a chance meeting with when I was out for a walk on one of our local trails. I was rediagnosed a few months later.

Now when I'm out for my walks and I see any dogs I think "please don't look at me, please look the other way". I really believe that they all sensed my illness. When I was having chemo I had a heightened sense of smell; sometimes when out for a walk I would catch a whiff of something and think some people were cooking dirty socks, a car would drive by and I could really smell the exhaust, and I could always detect things that other people could not. Now my sense is back to normal but I always thought "this must be what it's like for animals".