When a therapy dog serving cancer patients needed care, this Lee’s Summit vet was there

During Nina Noe’s battle with a rare form of breast cancer several years ago, she found solace through Violet, a rescue dog who stayed by her side.

“When I went through all my treatments, she helped me with anxiety just by being around,” said the Lee’s Summit resident and longtime dog owner.

Following her experiences with cancer and the family pet she sometimes refers to as her “cancer dog,” Noe saw the powerful impact of a trained therapy dog while visiting a family member in the hospital.

“I was thinking this would be something that breast cancer patients could really benefit from, and I put it in the back of my mind as a life list item,” she said.

These experiences led her to purchase and train her own therapy dog, KC, a golden retriever. Her experiences with KC also resulted in a deeper appreciation for her family’s veterinarian, Dr. Erin Brockhaus, and a special recognition for this everyday hero.

KC and Noe went through extensive therapy dog training and began working two days a week at St. Luke’s East Breast Cancer Center – where Noe received her own treatments – in April 2024.

Like the patients at the Breast Cancer Center, KC had gone through his own illness as a puppy, which was treated successfully by Brockhaus, associate veterinarian at Lee’s Summit Animal Hospital.

KC and Noe began their time at the center during a meet and greet in the waiting room, progressing to the radiology waiting area and then the infusion/chemotherapy area.

“I really feel like KC and I were one of the first pet therapy teams that were focused on breast cancer,” Noe shared. “Anyone who had met KC or saw him, they got an instant smile on their face. And the waiting room would just change in demeanor. People were smiling, they were talking about their own dogs and they asked lots of questions about KC.”

Sadly, KC’s service as a therapy dog and his life was cut short when he was just one year and eight months old.

KC became ill unexpectedly and despite the best efforts of Brockhaus and the veterinary clinic, he passed away on May 18.

“In his short time, he just touched so many people,” Noe added. “He was a celebrity at St. Luke’s East.”

Wearing his vest covered with his therapy dog patches, she said KC just knew what to do to help both patients and the center’s employees.

Throughout both of KC’s illnesses, Noe was enormously impressed by her veterinarian and the team at Lee’s Summit Animal Hospital.

“I personally had never seen a vet who has been so compassionate and caring,” she said. “She took KC’s case and tried so many things and researched so many things.”

Brockhaus also counseled Noe through the difficult decisions related to a critically ill pet and even drove KC’s body to the University of Missouri for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Through this post-mortem exam, other veterinary students had the opportunity to learn from KC’s experience, Noe added.

“Nina and her husband, Steve, went through one of the most difficult experiences of owning a pet,” Brockhaus said, especially considering KC’s young age.

A key ingredient in treatment plans for patients is hope, the local veterinarian said. The unconditional love a therapy dog provides when visiting those battling an illness can be that source of hope.

“KC embodied the phrase ‘he’s a good dog.’ He touched many lives in his short time he had from those at the hospital to our staff at the clinic,” Brockhaus added. “There’s so much good Nina and KC brought to those around them, which is always welcome in a world where hope can feel sparse at times.”

Noe, a long-time dog owner, said that working with Brockhaus “made me think about what a vet goes through everyday. If you think about some dogs who only go on a leash or only get in the car when they are going to the vet. It can be very stressful on those animals and those owners and the vet.”

Veterinarians also work with a wide variety of animals in numerous situations from healthy to very sick.

“It’s truly a profession that doesn’t get enough credit,” she said. “So that’s why I tried to funnel all my grief in a positive way.”

Noe shared the story of KC and his veterinarian with City of Lee’s Summit officials, resulting in a recognition of Brockhaus at a recent City Council meeting that also acknowledged Veterinary Appreciation Day, held June 18 this year.

“Dr. Brockhaus shows true character,” she said. “You can’t teach that kind of heart and that kind of caring compassion.”

In addition, Noe is helping launch a new nonprofit therapy organization, Heart of America KC K9 Teams.

She is also raising and training a new therapy dog and will continue to work with breast cancer patients. Her new golden retriever puppy will join her household in July.

“We’ve decided to name the puppy Brock after Dr. Brockhaus,” she said. “I just feel like dogs can do so much to help us get through things.”