Claire Seeber, 33, from Perth, WA shares her story with Take 5’s Claudia Poposki:
Tearing into his Christmas presents with excitement, Kransky, our mini-sausage dog, began to chew on the toys my husband, Sean, and I had bought him.
“He’s so excited!” I said.
Sean and I couldn’t be with our families for Christmas 2019, as they were on the other side of the country, so we spent the day going for walks and spoiling our pooch.
We’d had Kransky for almost two years, and he brought us such joy with his loving, affectionate nature.
Not long after Christmas, I was curled up on the couch speaking to my mum on the phone.
Kransky was sniffing a mole I had on my right calf, and wouldn’t leave it alone.
I kept laughing, as his wet nose tickled my skin.
“What are you laughing at?” Mum asked.
I love my dog Kransky so much.
(Image: Supplied)When I explained what he was doing, her tone changed.
“There’s been research on pets being able to sniff out illness,” she replied. “Please, book in a skin check.”
But I thought she was being a bit paranoid, so I didn’t do anything. When she followed up a couple of times though, I made an appointment to appease her.
As soon as the doctor saw the mole on my leg, he insisted it be removed and a biopsy taken.
“I’m going out today, I’ll make a booking soon,” I assured him.
But he wasn’t having a bar of it.
“No, we’re doing this now,” he said.
I was stunned by his seriousness; I felt fine but went along with it and had the mole removed on the spot.
I had to go to hospital.
(Image: Supplied)A few days later, I was in my living room with Kransky when the doctor’s office called me with the results.
“Claire, you have a cancerous melanoma,” the voice down the phone said, giving me details of a surgeon who would remove it.
I made the arrangements and quickly hung up, collapsing onto the floor.
Tears flowed as anger filled my body.
You took your health for granted. You’ve left it too late, I berated myself.
Sean returned home just afterwards and picked me up, holding me as I continued to cry.
The surgery was a success.
(Image: Supplied)My surgery was set for eight weeks’ time, and I was super scared.
Kransky and Sean were by my side through it all.
It was almost like my little dog knew what was going on and was there to comfort me.
After the surgery, I woke up with a decent dent in my leg as they needed to get all the surrounding cells in case they’d been infected.
But there was good news, too.
“It looks like we got it all,” a doctor said, advising I’d need to have regular skin checks every three months for years.
Thankfully, this meant no chemotherapy or radiation.
I’m so grateful to Kranksy.
(Image: Supplied)It’s been almost two years since one of the most terrifying moments of my life, and while I try not to dwell on it, I often think if Kransky hadn’t sniffed it out, my situation would have been so much worse.
My husband and I were supposed to spend last year travelling, and while the pandemic put those plans on hold, I shudder to think what might have happened if I’d gone all that time not knowing I was so sick.
Now, I’m sharing my story to remind others to get skin checks regularly.
Not everyone has an angel like Kransky to point out when something’s wrong.
Not a day goes by that I don’t thank him for saving my life.
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