Granddog’s Nudge Leads Chicago Heights Woman To Lifesaving Cancer Diagnosis

Since removing a malignant mole from her right forearm in 2001, Karen Daggett has kept up with her cancer screenings, seen her doctors regularly and taken precautions in the sun.

But it was an unexpected nudge from her granddaughter’s labradoodle named Zeki that led the 74-year-old Chicago Heights woman to the lump doctors later diagnosed as melanoma in her lymph nodes.

Today, Daggett is cancer-free. And on National Dog (Aug. 26), she is reflecting on the role Zeki played in the diagnosis that saved her life.

"Had it not been for Zeki, I don't know how long it would have been before I learned I had it," Daggett said.

While researchers have explored whether trained dogs can detect certain medical conditions through scent, Dr. Ari Seifter, the Advocate Health Care oncologist who treated Daggett, said the most important part of her story is that Daggett sought medical attention immediately.

"Whether a person notices a lump on their own or someone else brings it to their attention, the key is to have it evaluated immediately," Seifter said. "Karen acted quickly, and that's what led to her timely diagnosis and treatment. Any new lump, swelling, or unusual change in your body should be checked.”

Zeki belonged to Daggett's granddaughter, Anastasia Shriver, a professional handler who trained him to visit older adults in nursing homes. His role in Daggett's cancer discovery traces back to a family vacation in Louisiana. Daggett was playing a game of cards when Zeki walked up to her and pressed his snout in her armpit. The gesture was unusual, and the pain surprised her.

“I didn’t know what to think. That was the first time he had done that to me, and we were around him a lot,” Daggett explained, adding that when she massaged the sore spot, she felt a lump.

Daggett immediately followed up with her primary care doctor. After a mammogram and ultrasound, doctors found three cancerous growths in her lymph nodes. The diagnosis was melanoma.

Daggett went on to have surgery to remove 17 lymph nodes and completed immunotherapy as part of her treatment. Through it all, she said Zeki was more than just her granddaughter’s dog. He was family.

“He wasn’t trained to find cancer, and I wasn’t around him every day,” she said. “But somehow, he found it in me.”