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Today is the one-year anniversary of my son Jackie's first seizure. He quickly progressed from having one seizure to 20 to 40 a day. He was not talking, eating or walking well, and was on several medications with a poor response. When I read about the ketogenic diet offered at the Clinical Nutrition Service at Children's Hospital Boston, I wanted to start right away. I felt we were risking Jackie's well-being every day we weren't working toward a solution.
I made an appointment for him for a few weeks later but also left a message for Karen Costas, RD, a clinical nutrition specialist, to talk about coming in sooner. Karen returned my call, listening to our needs, fears and sadness, and agreed to bring us in for the very next ketogenic clinic.
Jackie became seizure-free after four months of fine-tuning this diet and working with Ann Bergin, MD, director of the Ketogenic Diet Program. He is now talking, singing, playing and laughing—and my husband and I savor every moment. We believe Jackie's health would be most uncertain without the strong support of people experienced with the challenges of the diet.
We have also made a conservative estimate that Karen singlehandedly saved Jackie about 1,000 seizures by moving up our appointment. What a gift! We've received consistently kind, prompt and knowing care from Bergin, Stacy Tarrant, RD, Cheryl Cahill, RN, and Matthew Snell, MSW. They've changed an unimaginable nightmare into what I can only say feels like a miracle. We hope and pray he continues to do so well.
With sincere gratitude,
Maureen Mulligan Sherrill
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