After Carter was (finally) back from his dangerous fog filled seizure days in the hospital , a doctor came in to talk to Katie/Jon about options. Like, an "option" of NO MORE SEIZURES. Who wouldn't jump on those vs. medicines?? But, it came with a price, this alternative. It meant a whole new lifestyle for Carter and the rest of the family. It was all about THE FOOD. What went into Carter's mouth for at least the next 2 years. He presented them with "the KETO diet". This diet, he said, "can get him off of all medicines {which is our goal }and NO MORE SEIZURES". This sounded too good to be true. OF COURSE, they jumped right on it. But, it was going to be hard. BRUTAL is more like it. Because most of Katie's day would (and does) consist around Carter's food. They emphasized that the diet had to be followed to the letter! that even ONE GOLDFISH could send him back into seizures. It was such a shock to see the list of foods he would eat. High fat. Lots of BUTTER. BACON. Whipping cream. ALL natural/organic cheese/eggs/ mayo. Nothing left to chance. It had to be followed to a "T". It was mind boggling to Katie/Jon as they tried to figure it out. But, Katie and Jon are a super parent "team" and it didn't take long till they were using that scale to weigh every bite/ figuring out how in the world to get him to try it and go through the last 2 months of pregnancy and with a little diva 2 year old girl. It was hard, let me tell you. And I was only on the "outskirts" as an encourager/ pray-er/ sound board. Those days leading up to ketosis were brutal. BUT, GUESS WHAT????? only a few days into the diet---seizures were slowing to the point that by about day 4, they were gone. YES. GONE. To get more details on how the diet works go here:
http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/the-ketogenic-diet
In a nutshell (if I can even begin to put it in a nutshell!), Carter's life (as he knew it) would change dramatically. Beginning with the smallest (or largest) thing. NO MORE JUICE. Carter was obsessed with juice. And to even do this "small" change, for starters, was huge. Almost immediately Katie said "I can't do it". Notice I wrote KATIE. HAHA! Because all day long, Carter was bringing his sippy cup to her wanting juice. And goldfish. And snacks. And cookies. And , well, you know what all toddlers love! he was just being a little boy. Not to mention he has a little sister who still ate all that stuff! So, they began simply. NO MORE JUICE. At first he freaked. Would throw his sippy cup across the room and scream. For like 30 minutes, scream. SLOWLY he began accepting that juice was gone. Forever. And, maybe b/c he was thirsty, he would guzzle the water. I remember the last day that Katie went by McDonalds to get his favorite "hash browns and biscuit". We were both in tears as he said "ummm, this is delicious". Little knowing that would be something he would never have again. At least for 2 years. Maybe longer. But. Little prices to pay for a life without seizures!
So, the diet became their new life. And how hard it was. First of all, remember, Katie is 7 months pregnant at this time. And trying to implement a new diet (that involved: weighing every morsel that went into Carter's mouth/ fixing tons of BUTTER/BACON for breakfast that he would scream over at first/ hearing him cry "I'm hungry!" or refusing outright to eat it. This went on and on and Katie cried a million tears over it. I would feel so helpless as I heard her sob on the phone telling me how Jon would spend a couple of hours forcing Carter to try a bite. And he had to eat EVERY bite. Sometimes he would throw it all up. He had to get into KETOSIS so that they could begin to see results. And that took awhile. They worked so closely with the Keto Clinic. (BTW, they were amazing. The call her back immediately when she calls---even one night when he ate some chocolate he found in her purse! and that was NEW YEARS EVE! Within 30 minutes, the call came. He would be OK, just a set back. But, never even had a set back, PTL).
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| the first days of the new diet were sometimes brutal |
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| and the TINIEST of portions |
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| but , look! he's loving it! |
November of 2015 was a month we all will never forget. Mimi was getting worse and baby # 3 was trying to come early. Because Katie's blood pressure shot up. Kemp's b'day came and was celebrated. Paris was attacked. And Mimi went to heaven on Nov. 14th . Then, Thanksgiving. well, Thanksgiving this year was totally different for sure! I went to Atlanta b/c Katie wasn't feeling well and baby #3 was coming, SOON. we fixed Carter his special Thankgsiving "feast" (of butter/bacon/ham and whipping cream!) and we started ours the night before. Well, on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I heard those words, "this is it, Mom". Off we went to the hospital. (Natalie/kids were there--planning on leaving early Thanksgiving morning). Guess what? they sent us home. Amid smells of the nurses stations of turkey/dressing and pie! Katie was down in the dumps. Jon was sleepy and GranJan was thinking of ways to get that baby here. (pineapple/ that tea that's supposed to help start labor ?). Nothing. So, on the night of the Alabama/AU game, right after we WON (RTR), Katie said, "this is it, Mom". (ARE YOU SURE?). Yes, it was real. OFF we went to the hospital after Jon's dad/step mom made it in the wee hours of Nov. 29th. BABY BECKETT arrives, beautiful/ safe and sound. PRAISE GOD because his umb. cord had a "true knot " in it. And she did it all without one bit of anesthesia. NOTHING. Those nurses went bonkers over Katie. Bragging about how incredible she did. She walked off the table 10 minutes after birth and sat in a rocking chair with her beautiful new baby. Yes.She.Did.
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| too gorgeous to have just had a baby, right? |
So, life now was great. More complicated a bit with baby Beckett needing to eat himself (thank GOD of nursing!)! But Carter continued without a hitch. And now, 3 1/2 months later, he is doing FANTASTIC. Katie now has access to the entire Keto database which means Carter's "menu" is getting larger and larger. He loves his cheesecake (teensy but loves it!) and we even made him his very own CUPCAKE for Ella Kate's b'day party---CHOCOLATE cupcake!!!!! (coconut flour/unsweetened chocolate/ sugar free sweetner to name a few ingredients). It was amazing. He was so proud and happy and talked about "my cupcake" for a week.
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| His chocolate cupcake! (with Ryder looking on!)! |
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| Carters special Mickey Mouse waffle (thanks, Alice, for the waffle maker!) |
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| it's the little things that make this diet bearable! |
So, going through the past 5 months has been a challenge for Katie/Jon. And they have accomplished much. They have climbed that mountain that they did not want to tackle, but did so with grace and love and support from SO many (many of you that are reading this!). From the sale of tee-shirts/ to the trip to Cincinnati/ to the KETO diet/ to figuring out how to manage a whole new diet ! I can't say enough about how incredibly amazing this young couple is. It wasn't without lots of tears or disappointing days ("I HATE THAT BACON!" ..."I NOT eat that!" ) but Carter has come from a sick little boy with circles under his eyes whose head hit the table at least 3 times each morning---to a healthy little boy that now says "MAMA! That is DELICIOUS!" after eating his favorite meal (broccoli and cheese soup). From eating spaghetti made with spaghetti squash to eating "whipped cream applesauce" our little 4 year old will go into his 5th year of life , in April, one FREE of "stinky seizures" as he calls them. He is a normal little boy again. Yes, he has a special diet. No, he can't go swimming without someone being with him the entire time. No, he can't go to a b'day party and have cake with the other children. But, YES, he can take his own "special" cupcake made just for him. we are thrilled. We are thankful. We are AMAZED. We sometimes, (especially when he is having a bad day and not wanting "that whipped cream, I HATE"), that he still continues to eat what he doesn't really like because I think God has let him know he needs to . Even though he didn't even know when he was HAVING a seizure, he knew he felt bad after. And he must feel SO much better. No more seizures. No more wearing a helmet (that was gone after one week!!!! PTL!!!). And we couldn't be more thankful.
So, now. If you had any doubts that miracles still happen today? Go read Part 1/2/3 again. Yes. Miracles happen. God uses sooooo many "ingredients" in so many miracles. Putting knowledge into the heads of men back in the 1920's (YES! that's when the diet was discovered!). Using medicines. Using new flours/ foods/ natural gifts from God to eat that change a person's life. Literally.
So, today, as I see this sun rising behind my computer, I have to say, again, THANK YOU , GOD. Thank You for the miracle of Carter. For the miracles that happen each day that we forget about. "missed wrecks". Medicines to eliminate colds/the flu. Miracles of birth. Miracles of slipping from death into eternity.
Thank You , God, for reminding me, this Lenten Season, that our family witnessed and is witnessing a miracle of enormous proportions. It is ongoing, this miracle. And I don't want to undermine it or forget about it during my day to day activities. In every pore of my being , I give God all the praise and glory to showing us your glory. Who would guess it would be seen in something so "ordinary" as food? Well, guess not.There was a certain thing called manna.....! (and it sustained lives for 40 years in the wilderness. Just sayin')!
#miracleongoing #thankYouGod #LentenJourney #carryingthecrossandlovingit #neverforgetmiracles #Cartersmanna
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