For those of you who haven’t seen the film 1998 ‘First Do No Harm’ starring Meryl Streep I warn you now, get your hankie ready before you watch this.
The film tells the story of a family’s struggle with their son Robbie’s epilepsy and a mother’s refusal to accept the abuse that the medical system foists upon them before it abandons Robbie.
They finally find hope and a cure in the Ketogenic diet and in this scene Meryl Streep writes a letter home reflecting on the success she has started to see since Robbie started the diet. The glimmer of hope she shows is heartbreaking.
The dietician patiently guides her through creating the meals which as Meryl says do look a lot better than any diet food I’ve ever seen and the peace and tranquility of the religious house lends an unusual gravity to the whole film which takes it above the level of the majority of made for TV movies.
As she takes her glasses off and smiles at the sight of her son playing like any other little boy I know that was the point at which my eyes got misty; I defy any other mother not to.
Despite this being a fictionalized account of the ketogenic diet, if it has peaked your interest please do look at the multitude of information available in the chat forums and podcasts on this site. There is nothing to loose and a whole lot to gain!
Great video!
Thanks for posting this. I never saw the movie, but I'm really enjoying the clips that are posted on here.
My son's seizures are bad enough, but he's fairly well-controlled on Tegretol. I can just barely imagine what it's like for those of you who have children with uncontrolled seizures on multiple meds. The relief you must feel with the control that the keto diet offers brings tears to my eyes just to think about.
I loved this scene -- also how angry she was. I think that's very realistic. I know I'm angry that my son's doctor isn't as responsive as I think he should be to my concerns about side effects.