FILE PHOTO Katlin Miller with her service dog, Greta. SPOTSWOOD – The newest guest at Spotswood High School has already made herself welcome.
Greta, a canine assist dog used by student Katlin Miller, proved her worth during her first week at school last week, helping Katlin safely endure two epileptic seizures.
Katlin, who has juvenile myochronic epilepsy, has occasional seizures, sometimes without warning. Greta, a 47-pound golden retriever, has the ability to sense when a seizure is coming on, based on chemical changes in Katlin’s brain. Sometimes Katlin will have an aura, a warning of an imminent seizure. In others, it is up to Greta to alert Katlin or people nearby.
Maggie Miller, Katlin’s mother, said the first seizure occurred Nov. 13, the second day that Greta accompanied her to school. Katlin walked out of a bathroom and her hand was shaking, though she didn’t realize it. Greta did, however, and alerted a teacher, who asked Katlin if she was OK.
With the warning, Katlin lay on the ground to deal with the seizure. At one point she tried to stand up, but Greta stopped her because the seizure was not over.
“The dog stopped her as if to say, ‘Hey, you’re not done yet,’” Maggie said.
When the seizure had passed, Katlin was allowed to get up and go to the nurse’s office, Maggie said.
“She rested for a while and then went back to school,” she said.
Katlin’s seizures take on different forms, and this one included rapid-eye movement and an inability to speak.
“She became verbally unresponsive,” Maggie said, adding that when she first tried to get up she was not “cognitively intact” enough to stand, which is why Greta kept her down.
People at school were “amazed” at Greta’s reaction, Maggie said.
Katlin suffered her second seizure of the week on Thursday. She was arriving at school with Greta when the dog sensed a seizure coming on. The dog alerted Katlin, but she didn’t pay attention, which caused the dog to put its body in front of her. That got the attention of a security guard, who asked why Greta was doing that, Maggie said.
Katlin later said the seizure caused her to hear things in an echoed and exaggerated manner, and she could not understand “what people were doing,” Maggie said.
The first seizure was mild; the second milder, Maggie said, but she considers Greta a hero in both cases.
“Greta proved herself this week,” she said.
The Spotswood Board of Education approved the dog after hashing out several concerns with the Miller family. The family then trained with the dog, which was donated by Canine Assistants, a private, nonprofit group in Alpharetta, Ga.
Katlin has had epilepsy for two and a half years, Maggie said, and doctors told her it is the result of a genetic mutation or other genetic problem. Since Katlin is a twin, it is possible a genetic mutation could have taken place in the uterus.
Maggie described Greta’s first week at the school as “fantastic.” She said the teachers, students and administrators were “great” with the situation, and that the dog passed through the halls without any problems. During classes, the dog often fell asleep, she noted.
“She did her job in school. Katlin’s finally safe,” Maggie said.