Patients on ketogenic therapy are seen at Shands hospital by a medical team consisting of a registered dietitian, nurse practitioners, and neurologists. This team collectively assesses the status of the patient in order to make the proper adjustments to maximize the therapy. Patients are initiated at Shands Hospital during an inpatient visit lasting three to four days. During this period, the patient will gradually enter a state of ketosis.  This is also when the guardians are trained on how to prepare ketogenic meals, how to take ketones, seizure, diet and specific gravity records and about the ketogenic therapy in general.  This training is done by a group of KetoGators and the dietitian using KetoGator initiation training booklets..

After being initiated, patients have regular appointments at the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) down at Shands Main Hospital.  Here they will be seen by the clinic team and the KetoGators.  The visits are every Tuesday morning and usually run until early afternoon.  The KetoGators are the primary interviewers during these visits.  Our role is to record information about their progress since the time of their last visit.  We collect anthropometric measurements such as weight, height skin-folds, and BIA.  Additionally, we obtain the patients’ seizure records for analysis.  Each KetoGator uses the data collected at clinic to create graphs and assessments which illustrate trends in growth, labs, diet prescription, and medications to appraise the patients’ progress.  We also conduct seizure questionnaires to analyze whether the patients’ seizures have improved or worsened and inform the clinic staff of any changes or issues.