kate farms success story with ketotic hypoglycemia

Making The Best of a Challenging Situation – The Gladu Family Story

By The Gladu Family (Connecticut, United States) – Jennifer, Jeff, Julianna, Ashlyn & Quinn

Nutrition plays such a huge part in KH and it’s an element that just shouldn’t be overlooked.

Today’s story is also a noteworthy reminder that in our industry, it’s so important that companies (especially those in medical nutrition) embrace an ethical approach and focus on more than just the bottom line.

Few brands really stand out on that front.

The paragraphs below however, helps shine a light on one such brand – a company that has gone out of their way to support our families. Kate Farms.

Enjoy!

Making The Best Of A Challenging Situation

Hello everyone.

I’m Jennifer. I live in Connecticut US, am a member of Ketotic Hypoglycemia International and I would like to take a moment and share our family’s Kate Farms success story!

Our daughter Quinn was born at 34 weeks in January of 2015. In the first 2 years, she faced many medical struggles having global development delays, feeding difficulties, severe/chronic constipation and a number of inpatient hospital stays to resolve acidosis.

It seemed that when her blood sugars went low, her ketones would go high and she would get very ill.

IV interventions and ketone monitors

It often required IV interventions at the hospital to stabilize her. Having a child so ill and in this state is terrifying.

After visiting specialists in endocrinology and genetics she was given a Dexcom and a ketone monitor to find trends between high ketones in her blood with the seemingly constant state of hypoglycemia.

She was eventually diagnosed with Ketotic Hypoglycemia (KH) by age 3.

Frustrations and feeding challenges

Quinn had significant feeding difficulties and was not on the growth charts for her age. This tiny girl needed food and formula to keep her blood sugars stable and grow. It was clear she needed a formula to boost her daily calories and nutrition.

We received a sample of another formula from the pediatrician. She really did not like it and I was really disappointed in the ingredient list.

Enough with all the syrup and sugar

For the amount of formula Quinn needed to supplement her poor feeding, it was important that it be a balanced drink offering healthy fats, proteins, and carbohydrates – without added ingredients. Every bite and sip needed to count so we started the search for other options.

As I researched the different formulas on the market, it was frustrating to read labels that had corn syrup as a top 3 ingredient and flavors that were enhanced with too much sugar.

Surely this isn’t all there is?

And along came Kate Farms

Then we found Kate Farms. I really connected with the story of how Kate Farms was developed and related to Kate’s parents wanting to find nutrition to help her thrive!

The ingredient list was impressive. I keep re-reading it as if I was sure I was missing something. How could something this nutritious taste good?

The true test was introducing it to Quinn. Would this picky girl drink it? The girl who grazed food and refused nearly everything we offered?

The Pediatric Standard 1.2 vanilla arrived with hopes for a better option.

With fingers crossed and a vibrant new sippy cup we introduced Quinn to Kate Farms just before her 4th birthday. We have not looked back!

At almost 9 years old today, and 3 major medical diagnosis later, Quinn still drinks her “milk” everyday.

She is a Mitochondrial Disease Warrior and a KH superstar.

A new outlook

I can’t fathom how different Quinn’s quality of life would look like if we had not found Kate Farms. I truly believed it saved her from a massive decline in her health.

It brings us great peace of mind to know we have this amazing product in our home that takes care of all Quinn’s nutrition in the event she can’t eat or drink enough in a day. An unexpected bonus is the ability to add her mitochondrial supplements to the formula.

The vanilla masks the flavors enough that I have no trouble getting them in each day.

This combination is a power drink for our girl!

Stable and enduring

This year she has grown leaps and bounds in her weight (she’s finally on her own growth chart!), her endurance has improved (stable blood sugars mean more energy to do the fun things kids should be doing) and hydration goals are met!

Given Quinn’s medical challenges, I see Kate Farms being a long term medical food in her diet.

I am so thankful a product like this exists so she can fuel her body in the best way possible.

Thank you Kate Farms!

Jennifer

Closing thoughts

And there you have it. That’s the Gladu family story of how implementing products from Kate Farms has helped them regulate and have a stable, enduring daily life with ketotic hypoglycemia.

As we come to the end of today’s story, we thought it would be prudent to use this as a pivot to share with you some of the nutrition-based work that has been done in the organization.

Video: Eating Aversions in Children

Are you interested in learning more? Good!

Nutrition, and its impact on the KH cannot be overstated.

Feel free to make yourself a cup of tea, lean back and watch our Eating Aversions in Children with Ketotic Hypoglycemia with the ever talented Kathy Ross.

Enjoy the watch:

Further reading: