Smelling Cancer?

Nurses General Nursing

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One of my nursing instructors told our class that she has acquired a smell for cancer, and when she walks in a room she can tell immediately if a patient has cancer. :confused:

Do nurses typically "acquire" these intuitive smells after many years of nursing??

Off topic, but I remember reading that search dogs working Ground Zero were getting so depressed that the handlers would hide from each others' dogs so that the dogs could have a successful find.

Can I just say... I work as a vet tech and this is really depressing!

But it's true, animals completely have a sixth sense somehow about disease and death. They just know when it's coming.

I can't tell you how many "crazy" cats we've euthanized. I'm talking the kind that love to spit, scratch, claw, bite... the kind you can't get near. The second that catheter goes in the vein, more often than not (MUCH more often than not) the cat would become calm and sweet.

Whenever an animal is dieing, and the owner doesn't want to euthanize, the other animals we have typically pick up on it. Most of the time, it will go from extreme barking to extreme silence.

So I dunno, this entire subject of people smelling things and having sixth senses for me is not out of the realm of possibility. I think it's also really cool, and really weird at the same time. And now I have yet another worry if I ever get cancer, I will worry that I stink.

So I dunno, this entire subject of people smelling things and having sixth senses for me is not out of the realm of possibility. I think it's also really cool, and really weird at the same time. And now I have yet another worry if I ever get cancer, I will worry that I stink.

That thought occurred to me, too, but honestly, if you get cancer, that will probably be the least of your worries.

I belive that my dog has a fine sense for illness. Before I even get sick, he tends to sit by me more, and will stare at me instead of resting. I do get a little freaked out when he insists on smelling a location where I had had a benign skin condition removed years ago.. I sure hope it was/stays benign. I just noticed this was a old post...lol

Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

i have a variety of scary abilities. i am often refereed to at work as a witch (maybe cause it because i wear all black i dont know) anyway thats beside the point... i can and have many times smelled cancer i can pick it up as i walk (even before i get report on a patient) in the room especially if it is advanced. this however may be a trained nose of a old hospice nurse. i can smell your typical c-diff, urine infections ,gi bleeds and i can smell death a mile away. over the years i have developed the sick sense of walking in the room of any patient and being able to tell if they are going to die or take a crash long before they show signs. it is a overwhelming feeling i get... a out of this world disturbed feeling ( i cant really explain the feeling somewhat of a evil doom feeling ) that tells me to watch over this patient very closely. this is above and beyond the typical nursing sense that something is wrong. i had that when i started nursing but this has developed over time. it is a feeling that almost doubles me over as i walk in the room. i have even gone as far as to sit by the bedside or do my assessments and vital signs more frequently. it has become so on the money that i go to the charge nurse now and report this before the patient makes a change so they can be ready for a code or get ready to ship the patient to icu. it may not happen on my shift as many many times i have left the patient at the end of a shift only to find several days later they are in the obituaries. it is very strange and i don't get it on a daily basis ,maybe once or twice a month. it stopped freakin me out about 8 years ago and now i use it as a tool and just go with it.

I think it's sickly sweet. I never associated it strictly with cancer, but you can smell a distinct odor when someone is "shutting down".

We had a patient admitted to psych. She should have been in hospice.

Not only did this pt look like she was in the process of dying, but I could smell it.

The pt was d/c'd from psych and put on hospice (where she belonged!) and died very shortly, thereafter.

Interestingly, not everyone could smell it and some staff thought that those who smelled it were nuts!

I just noticed this was a old post...lol

Oh, for the love of Pete!

lol

I didn't catch that. :rolleyes:

Specializes in Assessment coordinator.

I also can smell cancer. Noticed it in my first CNA job back in 1973. To me, the smell has changed over the years. I also believe that at least 50% of practicing nurses can see diseases in auras and we just keep it to ourselves, but I am sure you notice when you and a co-worker agree on a diagnosis with absolutely no clinical data whatsoever. Too bad more docs can't admit they can do this too, and then we could move to the next level of care.

Specializes in Assessment coordinator.

My cat insists on lying on any part of my body that hurts. All night long. It's like she seems to absorb the pain, maybe even thrive on it. WEIRD, as that happened with my last cat (Who was 17 when she died.) She did it to both kids when they were at home as well. Spooky.....

I can smell cancer. I have worked for years in oncology, and have acquired it. It is ok guys to give credit where it is due.

When I was studying nursing (in Italy) we had a neoplastic patient who occupied a room where the smell was so strong it was nauseating. From that experience I spot the smell extremely frequently in patients. I think the illness is well-established before the smell reaches the human smell threshold and I would say that the smell gets stronger as the illness progresses. I would say that the majority of experienced nurse colleagues agree that cancer gives off a recognisable smell. I would say that most people who have shared an environment with a cancer patient for a substantial amount of time will have developed an awareness for the characteristic smell. Olfactory memory is very strong and long lasting and even after years somebody who has experienced the smell can realize, if they find themselves in contact with the smell again, that they know the smell it may lead them to realize that it's the smell of cancer. The research using dogs makes perfect sense for the very reason that their acute olfactory abilities can allow a dog to detect the smell better and thus earlier on in the illness than a human may be expected to. Unfortunately in medicine there are enourmous interests so although dogs may very well be an excellent means of detecting illness, they are not a good enough business if compared to conventional screening/diagnostic methods. It is thus probable that, behind the excuse of dogs being un-scientific, the method will never be adopted. If dog-detection of human neoplastic illnesses was implemented it would be a perfect example of "complementary medicine" where conventional and unconventional medical practices can be combined for a better, common goal. (Nurse from Italy).

Specializes in Critical Care, Psychiatric.

I noticed certain smells. Working in Neuro there is a distinct smell that comes from the neuro patients who have any opening in their head. It's the brain smell. And people with liver tumors or cancer have a certain smell that is unimaginable. Just my personal observation, nothing scientific explanation behind it.

Death breath, definitely....usually 24hrs max left....

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