Disrespect!

The following conversation took place yesterday...

Me: Rachel, did you know your bus will be picking you up at 7:15 a.m. this year?!?
Rachel: Well I guess I won't be able to say goodbye to you then.

Can you believe my child has the gall to speak to me like that? Even if it is true that I have a tendency to be the last one up in the morning and my boys have to beg for me to roll my sorry self out of bed to make them breakfast--and then when I don't they go to their big sister who fills in for me from time to time as the responsible female in the home.

Apparently she isn't aware that I spend my nights moonlighting as--their mom. Last night I was up until 1:30 scouring the Internet for anything this world might possibly have in it that does not have carbs. Guess what I came up with meat, eggs, whipping cream and cardboard. Actually I'm not really sure about the cardboard...odds are it has a carb or two in it as well. Sad world we live in.

For anyone dying to know the latest here...

A week ago Luke began a new treatment for his epilepsy. It is called the "Ketogenic Diet". Having 6 medications fail to work has left us with limited options on how to treat him. The diet is the least risky--the other option is a Vagus Nerve Stimulator, a kind of pace maker for the brain.
So the Ketogenic Diet is a high fat & protein diet and virtually no carbs. He can have up to 10 grams of carbohydrate a day...fyi there are about 15-25 grams in one slice of white bread.

So far Luke has been a trooper--but who would have thought anything less from him. He is one great kid. The first day went pretty well and then he woke up at about 6:00 on the second day sick as a dog...he was vomiting from about 6 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. I think Rachel and I cried most of that day. His body has now pretty much adjusted, he has not been nauseated much since, but has been very tired--something they say should correct itself in a while. He is actually doing the "Modified Atkins" version of the diet...he's the 1st one in Boise to do it, so we'll see how it works. We love being the guinnea pigs!

It has been such a challenge. There are not a lot of foods to work with when you're 7. The dietitian put fried eggplant on his menu and I say NO WAY! No sense in wasting the cash on an eggplant he's not going to eat. He has had salmon this week, several cheeseburgers (just the meat and cheese-no bread) more eggs than any human should ever have to eat in my opinion and many a glass whipped cream. I am learning to adapt some things that he liked before...I've been making him crepe's for breakfast:

1 egg

1 Tbsp. heavy whipping Cream

1 Tbsp. Oil

30 drops liquid sweetener

1/4 tsp. pure vanilla

He can have 1/4 cup of raspberries or blackberries rolled up in it. (the crepe is .25 g of carbohydrate and the berries are 1.75 g so that = 2 g total. 8 g left to enjoy!)

Another breakfast favorite is "French Toast" made with Pork rinds. I'll spare you the recipe. Let me just say I'm going to need to invest in a face mask because the smell of them makes me sick.

I make him shakes: Whipping Cream, a little diet flavored sparkling water (0 carbs), 1/4 cup raspberries, some sweetener and a little pure vanilla. Sounds delightful eh?

Right now he wants me to make him a vanilla shake. Wish me luck on that!

The goal of this whole thing is to get him into ketosis...exactly the place we are trying to keep Rachel out of. It is a circus around here. Anytime anyone mentions food I want to scream.

It is forcing me to plan better. Tonight we will all have pork chops and broccoli (Luke can have 1/2 cup) and 1/2 Tbsp. of steak sauce to go with his pork chop. He won't be having the rice that is on the menu, but maybe another 1/4 cup of blackberries.

So far we have seen no improvement. They said it could take up to 6 weeks to know if it is working. The longest they will allow him to be on the diet is 3 years. Say a little prayer for Luke--and the rest of us if you have a minute!

Yesterday Luke fell down the stairs and hit his head pretty good. I'm still waiting to hear back from the neurologist to see if they want him to come in for scans or anything. This morning I tripped in the garage and landed on my wrist which is now swollen. I don't think it is broken, but it does match my ankle that I hurt a few weeks ago--and now cannot sit criss cross applesauce!

Jonah hit a plum pit in the road on his skateboard and landed on his wrist (same one he fractured a few months ago) this afternoon. Other than that I think we are all well.

I'll stop complaining now and give you a quick photo update on what else we've been doing when we are not injuring our bodies.

We had our end of season swim team party. The kids got their ribbons from the city meet. Luke was also given the sportsmanship award for his age group for having such a good attitude and working hard.

The kids got to swim after the awards...Luke didn't feel well, so Jared took him home and I watched my son get way too brave doing front flips off the high dive. I'm not a big fan of that.

I took the kids to Eagle Island State Park to go on the water slide. We had a great time and are excited to go back soon.

Our dear friends came all the way up from Houston to visit us here in little ol' Boise. How cool is that? We met them in Twin Falls for the temple open house it is beautiful. Then they followed us over to Boise for a couple of days of fun. We miss their family so much. It was a very teary goodbye when they had to leave. I took many pictures of Seth and Quinn (they are 3 weeks apart) just so we'd have some for their wedding video in a couple of decades. They are betrothed. Hopefully we'll meet up again soon.




























Well, that's all for now...off to mix up a vanilla shake. Let me know if you want the recipe! ;)