Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A Girl and Her Dog: The More Complete Version

I can't believe that I am only able to write for this site every couple of weeks lately. There is so much going on in the world, but like many people, I am caught up in my own world and that of my family and work. The following is the column that was scheduled to appear in The Journal-Standard on Thanksgiving Day, but I went well over my alotted word count. So here in full is the original column as it would have appeared. I hope you enjoy and I'll try to get a picture of Claire and Shia on this site, once I become tech-savvy enough to figure it out.

A Girl and Her Dog

by

Roland Tolliver

"Will you put me to bed, daddy? I’m tired."

Sure, Claire. Let’s get ready. I’ll take Shia out, first.

"Where’s Shia, daddy?"

Right here, honey. Go to bed, Shia.

Shia jumps onto the bed and lays at Claire’s feet.

Pillow, Shia.

And Claire’s service dog, Shia, stands up, walks to the head of the bed, and puts her head down on the pillow next to Claire. They will sleep like this for the next eight hours on a good night. Occasionally, Claire will wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and dad will put her and her dog back to bed. Some mornings we wake up and find them in the bed next to us. Shia is very quiet and light on her feet for a 60 pound yellow lab. Claire has learned over the years how to "sneak" into our bed and snuggle under the covers for the last hour or so before we have to get everyone up and ready for school.

It hasn’t been this way for most of the past ten years. When Claire first started having seizures at age two, nights were the worst. Her most severe seizures lasted between 2-4 hours. Yes, that is hours, despite anti-seizure medications given at home and emergency room treatment. I, being the much lighter sleeper between my wife and me, found that there were few nights that I was able to sleep through the night. I would stir at the slightest sound. A cough and I was up. A slight cry and I was in to look in on her. A gagging sound and I would spring into high alert, as that was the sound that would most often precede a seizure.

Five years ago this month Claire and I spent five days in the UW-Madison Hospital for a video-monitored EEG (a test to determine brain activity and the type of seizures she was having). It was then that we found out she was having seizures continuously and that these worsened at night when she went to sleep. The doctor recommended a change in her anti-seizure medications. Within one month we learned during a follow-up EEG that the seizure activity had decreased by 40%. Last year we learned at another follow-up that the activity had decreased another 50% and primarily affected the front lobe of her brain.

Claire, who was only given three to five years to live when she was two years old, will be thirteen in six weeks. Our little girl, who we held, cried over, prayed for, and constantly wondered whether the next seizure would take her from us, will soon be a teenager. The frontal lobe, which affects a person’s behavior, is still affected by low-grade seizure activity and brain damage. We still have no answers as to why or what caused the condition in the first place.

Claire, who looks like your typical twelve- year-old girl at first glance, has a wonderful smile, infectious laugh and long, beautiful eyelashes, is so much more. Her social and psychological behavior seems to have been arrested at about the four- year-old level. She still throws temper tantrums, often at the most inopportune times, like in the grocery store. She repeats much of what she hears, so we hear some words that are better left out of any of our children’s vocabulary. She attends special education classes at Carl Sandburg Middle School and now participates in the after-school program that was started in conjunction with the YMCA, Malcolm Eaton Enterprises and Freeport School District 145.

And there is one other major change for Claire and our family this year...Shia.

"How’s the dog?"

"How are your daughter and the dog doing?"

"How’s the dog working out?"

Great. I tell most people. I’m actually getting to sleep through the night more often.

"Does she sleep with Claire?"

Yes, she does. I’ll usually find Claire with her arm wrapped around Shia in the morning, when Shia hasn’t already gotten out of bed for her morning "better hurry" routine outside.

"Does she go out with the family?"

Yes. Shia has gone to church with Claire and the family on a regular basis. They’ve gone to the movies, to a few restaurants, to the grocery store, Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, and Farm and Fleet. She’s even greeted the cashier at the gas station, who didn’t even realize there was a dog in the store.

"What can she do? Does she obey many commands?"

My wife, Irena, is the primary handler. She endured the two full weeks of training, learning the 70-80 commands that Shia responds to, how to handle her in public, what to say to those that question bringing a dog into a place of business, and how to care for such a precious being. The rest of the family get to benefit from the love that Shia shows toward all of us, especially Claire.

Shia is a beautiful dog. She is sleek, almost deer-like, in her appearance and in her movements. She glides, instead of walks. She bounds, instead of jumps. She’s playful like a kid. And she is loving to a fault. Of course, we haven’t learned all of her cues, yet. So, there is the occasional "mess" to clean up and a sandwich (especially peanut butter) that may go missing from the table. She’ll usually only bark on command, unless egged on by our other dog, Bijay, who barks at any sight or sound. Many times during the day we’ll find the two dogs laying next to each other in the sunlight or on one of the kid’s beds.

"Does the dog go to school with Claire?"

No. Claire has an aid in school and someone would have to go through the training in order to be a handler at school. She stays home until Claire returns, though she does go on trial training runs with my wife sometimes. Just look for a lovely lady with a yellow lab wearing a blue pack around its shoulders.

It has changed our lives, having a service dog in the family. Many people ask if Claire is blind or unable to walk. We answer "No" to both questions. Claire walks, though usually she runs. She sees fine, often more than we want her to. Shia was trained to be a companion for Claire. Shia is a friend, a buddy, a sleep mate, and has become a member of the family. We waited over three years to finally have a dog like her come into our home. And now that she is here, we can’t imagine what it would be like without her.

"Daddy, is Shia my dog?"

Yes, Claire. Shia is your dog.

"Does Shia love me?"

Yes, Claire. Shia loves you very much.

"I love Shia so much, too. Good night, daddy."

Good night, Claire. Good night, Shia. God bless both of you and keep you through the night.

"I love you, daddy. Shia’s my dog, right?"

Yes, Shia’s your dog. I love you, too, Claire. Sleep well. I’ll see you both in the morning. Yes, I will.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful to God for my family, for friends, for Claire’s teachers, aids and care givers, for all of you who have asked about Claire and Shia and especially for all of the prayers that have been said for Claire over the past ten years. Mostly, I am thankful that Claire is still with us and growing into a beautiful young lady. Each and every day is a day to give thanks for our many blessings.

For more information on service dogs, please go to:

http://workingclassdogs.com/

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Working for a Living

I've been away from this site for a while now. Okay, almost an entire month. You'd think that I had been overwhelmed by the departure of Joe "Say it Ain't So" Galli from Newell-Rubbermaid. In reality time has been short, or at least any extra time, and while there have been numerous happenings in the news, there wasn't much to catch a young or old man's fancy. I would like to recommend to all local readers (and you know who you are) to get out and get tickets for "Working" the play based on the writings of Studs Terkel which will be performed at Freeport High School starting tomorrow (November 17th) and running through Saturday (November 18th) at 7:30 each night.
I know, you're saying to yourself about now, "Why should I go see a high school play if my kid isn't in it?" The short answer is because you should. The longer answer is because it is a play that has never been performed in Freeport, because the performers do an exceptional job, and because in these trying economic times in Freeport and Northwest Illinois there are some universal truths about working and workers that are displayed in this emotional, thought-provoking, entertaining show.
If you do read this or my column in tomorrow's Journal-Standard, then call the business office and reserve your seats or show up at the box office and buy your seats there. Either way you should be impressed with the level of talent at the high school level and the excellent job that the actors and musicians do with this material.