We have completed the second day of the ketogenic diet. We have to be at Childrens Hospital four days in a row for most of the day for teaching the parents and watching Mason closely as his body adjusts to the changes. He fasted for part of the first day, and had a special drink (tiny amount) for lunch and later for supper at home. The ratio of his food is about 90% fat with the remaining 10% consisting of a combination of carbohydrates and protein. He will have whipping cream, butter, and oil in each meal, along with small amounts of certain veggies and meat, egg, or cheese. Everything has to be weighed to the .1 gram. For example I prepared a beaten egg for him for supper. It weighed 47.4 grams, and he could have 41 grams, so I discarded 6.4 grams of the egg. Along with 33 grams of green pepper(about 1/3 cup), 11 grams of butter (about 1 tablespoon), 10 grams of canola oil (about one tablespoon), and 25 grams of whipping cream (36% had to be special ordered). Part of the whipping cream went into the "omelet" while the rest was mixed with a measured amount of water (fluids are limited, although a fair amount) a couple of drops of stevia sweetener (only certain brands allowed) and a drop of vanilla for flavor. I scraped the oil and butter with a rubber spatula from his plate at the end of his meal to feed it to him, to make sure he got the entire amount. It took me a long time to prepare it!! I have to test Mason's blood sugars for a few days (it's really good so far), as well as check hi urine for ketosis many times per day initially, then morning and bedtime on a regular basis after that. He reached the right level of ketosis this morning (ahead of schedule) so that he could have a full, real keto meal for supper. Otherwise he would not have been able to eat until tomorrow. The quick version, this diet tricks the body into thinking that it is starving, causing ketosis - a chemical produced when fat us burned for fuel. For unknown reasons, this seems to help some children with difficult to control seizures. If you are really curious there is more information at the following website. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/Medical/treatment/diet/
A ketogenic story: http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/495web/fat.html
What a blessing it is that we have wonderful friends to take Asia and Sydney after school, friends and family to come along to the hospital, and others who are bringing meals. Today after I got home, I thought, "hey I would have been able to make supper, no problem!" then when Daryl and I didn't get to eat until 7 pm, I realized, no, I couldn't have done it today. So the combination of help and prayer, cooks up just the right concoction for what God knows we need!! As a 'refining fire' in our lives, this experience will require me to become extremely organized and structured. Eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!! My personality is the opposite, laid back and spontaneous. Mason will have to eat at certain times, and the rest of us will have to be very careful in what we eat around him, including food preparation. It will be a lot of work yet, but worth it in the end when we find out one way or another if this is the answer. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!!!!! Shirley
