Keto Stories

Serena

Our story began on September 18 2008. My daughter was 5 years old, in kindergarten and a bright and healthy kid. That all changed when she had her first tonic clonic seizure on September 19, 2008. It was the first day of my new life. It all just went from bad to worse; she missed over 40 days of school and even when she was there, she wasn’t there. She had to be admitted into the hospital every month for almost a year for status epilepticus. In February she was in subclinical status. It was like my child was gone she had no emotion in her eyes and she had her head tilted to the side and just drooled all the time. We started the modified Adkins diet in April but she continued to have 2 to 8 tonic clonics a day plus tonic, absence, myoclonic, and simple partial seizures after 6 months. In October of 2009 we decided to go for the keto diet and I am so glad we did she is more alert then she has been in over a year. A couple of nights ago her older brother and I were talking about how she is doing so much better and she said “yes mommy, I feel like all new”. She is still having seizures, one or two every few days. She was very delayed but we have the help of so many specialists, my neuro team and a wonderful dietitian. Every last one of them have a special place in my heart. My daughter recieves an IEP at the end of school and through the summer she forgot how to tie her shoes and write her name. She had lost so much but her Special Ed teacher tells me she will be starting reading next month. Even if we don’t get full seizure controll I will be pleased to say I am greatful for this diet and hope to educate others on the benefits of the diet. She will be weaning the first of three seizure medications at the beginning of the year. This has been a hard struggle but we live one day at a time, me and my precious family.