One week down, only 103 left to go.......

We've finally ended our first week on the keto diet. Like most of our family life living with an epileptic, it was a roller coaster ride. We started out on the weekend doing really well. Ben was eating well & we were thrilled. Hot dogs & carrots were a big hit. He didn't seem to mind all of the fat & the butter was going down & staying down. Our first rough day came on Tues.We had finished the last of the ketogenic eggnog so I gave Ben a small bit of scrambled egg for breakfast. He threw a fit, wouldn't stop whining & absolutely refused to eat it. We were late for therapy that morning, so I pitched the breakfast & out the door we went. Ben had nothing but butter & cream to eat. He's in camp this week from 10-12pm so I took a snack. Battle #2 came with the snack. I baked a ketogenic version of peanut butter muffins the night before & brought some with me. Ben took one bite & refused to eat any more. Luckily I brought another snack (peanut butter balls) with me. He loves them & ate it without complaint. I just ignore the fact that he had taken a bite of the other snack. Back at home for lunch I tried the hamburger meal. Ben seemed to be getting tired of the hot dogs (he started whining about the last few bites) so I thought we'd try hamburgers. Well that didn't go over very well. Unfortunately the rules of the diet are such that you can't start one meal, eat part of it & switch to something else. The whole meal is balanced & every part of the meal must be eaten in it's entirety to maintain the keto ratio of 4:1 (4 parts fat to 1 part protein & carb combined). Ben ate the salad & carrots & then refused the hamburger. He would let me put it in his mouth but then refused to swallow it. It was amazing in that he never tried to spit anything out. I think he knows that's not ok. He just wouldn't swallow anything. He sat there with his cheeks stuffed with hamburger & drool coming out the sides of his mouth. If it weren't so stressful, it would've been funny (even if it was a little disgusting). After 45mins I finally managed to get him to choke everything down.



Wens & Thursday passed with relative ease. And then again on Friday Ben had some issues with the meals I'm serving. Since scrambled eggs didn't work so well, and he really likes the mayo, I tried the yolk of a hard boiled egg with some mayo, again another "food fight". This time Grace joined in b/c she was at the table while Ben was eating & she was honked off b/c she wanted his egg plus string cheese which we were out of. So both were pitching a fit, one refusing food the other wanting more food. Breakfast lasted so long we totally missed morning snack & were in danger of running right into lunch (Ironically I still hadn't had breakfast myself). When dinner rolled around, I thought we'd tried diced ham, similar to hot dogs right? Well, Ben didn't think so, so we had another stand off. Luckily Ted came home by then & took over the battle. I just can't wait till we try chicken & mashed turnips next week!



I'm trying not to push Ben too much with diet changes but at the same time, we've learned from his feeding therapy that if I let him eat the same food over & over, he'll eventually drop that food & not ever eat it again. So I'm trying to preserve the hot dog (feeble pun intended). He has been eating some of the foods easily & it's really nice to see. Jello with whipped cream, keto yogurt & shredded iceberg lettuce with mayo are all new favorites. We never thought we'd see him eat some of this stuff. So we're grateful for the food he is eating.



Ben is definitely feeling hungry most of the time, even when he eats his full meal. The portions are very small & he's only been allotted 800cal/day. In the past few days he's suddenly become very aware of what everyone else is having to eat & he's taken to surfing the kitchen counter. Luckily we're been very good about keeping it clear of food. I think we may soon be putting a childproof lock on the refrig. Wens am Ben got up at 6am, came upstairs and asked for "breakfast". We we're impressed by the use of his new word. Hunger must be a very strong motivating factor. Sometimes I feel guilty depriving him, but I try to keep in mind what a gift it will be if he can come off medication & can live a life without seizures



The dietitian has told us that his hunger will subside after a week or 2 on the diet. He'll never feel full but he won't feel hungry either. Anyone who's dieted can relate. You eat that weight watchers dinner & think, "well that was good, but now what". In fact Ben has taken to whining little bit at the end of his meals I think b/c he's done and he knows there's no more food till the next snack. The good news is, with 3 meals & 2 snacks a day, during the day,food is never more that 2-3 hrs away.

I do plan on asking the dietitian for an increase in calories, especially before Ben goes back to pre-school. I think he'll need the extra energy.



The best news overall is that we've kept Ben's ketones in the Large to X-large range & he's remained seizure free since the first day of his diet (7/9). In fact his last "big seizure was on 7/2. The really interesting thing is that not only has Ben been seizure free since starting the diet but there is something about him that seems more solid & more focused. I can't quite explain it but others have noticed it as well. If he continues to remain seizure free, we'll start weaning one his medications in a another week. A very good thing and a major motivation.