Dear Harrison 0831:
I am so happy to hear about your preserverence on the diet! It is a true
labor of love.

My son DJ has been on the diet since May 2004. I was fortunate to have been
able to talk with a lady whose daughter had been on the diet. She shared with
me some of her "short cuts" for making the diet a little easier on the parents.

I would like to share them with you too as it made life more "normal" for us
as a family.

With DJ, he ate the same amount of butter, and cream at every meal. I
purchased from a restaruant supply store 2 ounce and 4 ounce containers with
lids (the kind they use for take-out meals to put extra salad dressing in). I
would measure out a weeks worth of butter and label the cup with the date and
grams. I would do the same with the cream.

If he was into green beans that week, I would weigh out the green beans
(frozen or fresh are better since they weigh less than canned beans) The child
gets more to eat. I would date and label the grams on the cup for the beans as
well.

When it came time to fix something to eat, I would just grab a premeasured
container and then I would only have to weigh his protein.

This also made traveling and going out to eat more spontaneous, as half of his
meal was already prepared.

Additionally, I would go to family friendly restaraunts and request they
microwave the food I would provide on one of their plates and serve it when the
rest of our meal was served.(I would try to do this when DJ wasn't looking) I
would then pretend to order from the menu for him. (hot dog and green beans) It
was fun to watch his eyes light up as they brought his meal to him like "a
regular" kid.

I also learned to get the most out of his hot dogs but slitting the hot dog
length wise (not too deep) and then microwaving it for approximately 35 to 40
seconds. The slits allowed the fats and liquids to escape and be wiped off,
sometime I would squeeze the hot dog a little to get even more of the liquid
out. DJ would then get almost of whole hot dog, even when he was on the 4:1
ration (2.18 carbs per meal).

I hope these little suggestions are helpful. I have a ton of recipes and
suggestions for different meals I would be happy to share if you are interested.

I know the diet can be hard and tedious at times, but it is sooo worth the
effort. If I can be of help in anyway, please let me know.

Thelma (DJ's mom)

harrison0831 <harrison0831@...> wrote:
we have been doing the ketogenic diet for almost a year. My son has
absence siezures and after four years of trying many different
medicines nothing was working so we decided on the diet. He has a
very good attitude (finally) to the diet. The best thing is that it
is working. Our last EEG showed no siezure activity.

Make sure and ask your dietician if she has the computer program that
was developed for the diet. It's basically an excel spreadsheet, but
it has been a life savor for us. I used it to plan a whole book of
menus for my son. He basically has what we have for dinner, with a
few modifications.

The weighing and measuring everything gets tediuos some of the
times. Plus I really miss going out to eat (we do, but it takes lots
of planning before we go). But it is so worth it for my son's sake.
I wish you much success.-

-- In ketokids@yahoogroups.com, "rose_babic" <rose_babic@...> wrote:
>
> Noreen,
> A great site is called Matthewsfriends.org it is uk based but lots
> of resources and helpful people there too.
>
> Rose
>
>
> --- In ketokids@yahoogroups.com, Thelma Fosselman <thelma@> wrote:
> >
> > Noreen:
> >
> > I forgot to mention the most important aspect of the diet and
> that is attitude!
> >
> > Have a positive attitude and be very optimistic as this diet
has
> been a miracle treatment for many children. Along with attitude is
> diligence. Measure everything precisely and don't slip extra food
> in. The first few days may be rough, but once your son enters
> ketosis, his food cravings and most of his appetite will go away.
> >
> > Again, best wishes. Thelma (DJ's mom)
> >
> > noreen_funk <sr2692@> wrote:
> > Hi! This is all new to me. Ususally have my daughters
> help me out
> > with computer skills. Hope I am doing everything right. My 12
year
> > old son developed an illnes May of 2005 which led to
encephilitus.
> > He had 9and 1/2 hours of status epilepticus and spent a month in
a
> > coma. He spent the next 3 months relearning how to do pretty much
> > everything. He has been left with complex sz.'s. He has come a
> > long way, but needs emergent respiratory assist while seizing as
> he
> > stops breathing . He has gone through alot of medications in the
> > past year and a half, and had debilitating side effects (Stevens
> > Johnsons rash, etc)with them. The medications haven't controlled
> > the seizures, and we have found ourselves around another bend and
> > are now facing the ketogenic diet as our neourologists have
stated
> > as a last resort. We have been to many hospitals, Dr.'s, etc. Our
> > son goes into the hospital this month to get a stomach tube
> > (feeding) placed due to eating complications from medicine
> effects.
> > Then in Feb. we will be taking him out of state to get him placed
> on
> > the ketogenic diet. I cannot believe how much our lives have
> > changed. However, it has brought us out of our comfort zones, and
> > made us stronger and closer. I am here in an attempt to educate
> > myself , my 2 daughters, and my husband on the diet so as to give
> > our son every chance possible with this therapy. I understand the
> > diet and basically how it works, however, that is as far as
> anybody
> > has taken us. We know he will be on the diet with oral and liquid
> > feeds for when he cannot eat.I have been told that upon entering
> the
> > hospital when he is started on the diet we will be educated on
how
> > to maintain it for him. My fear is that if it isn't thorough
> enough
> > we are up river as they are out of state after we are home. I
have
> > spoken with the nutritionist and she seems like talking with an
> old
> > friend so this is a plus. But preparing the meals seems vague. Or
> > do they tell you exactly how to do that as well? So nervous, as
we
> > have tried so many other things that have failed. Really want to
> > get this right for him so am here in hopes that the veterans that
> > have gone on before us could offer some guidance. Also We have
> gone
> > through this entire journey with NO outside resource help
> > (financially)---as every one has continually give un the run
> > around. How expensive is this diet?
> > Thank you for your patience with my email and any help , I am
sure
> I
> > sound like I am rambling on and on....just want to get this right
> > for my son.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>






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