Archer is pancreatic insufficient; this means he cannot absorb the fat in his food and without the appropriate treatment he will suffer severe malnutrition. In the past, malnutrition was one of the leading factors to infant mortality for cystic fibrosis sufferers. To manage this part of his condition he is required to have an enzyme before he eats any food containing fat. Creon is required to be taken before the food is ingested to ensure his intestines have the enzymes needed to absorb the food as soon as possible.
Archer is required to have a diet that is high in fat and salt. During food preparation, each ingredient is weighed to calculate the fat content in the serving. The added time spent in preparing his meals allows us to portion out different servings by weight and calculate the fat within the serving which is required to administer his Creon dosage. I also make specific purées for him as the ones you buy in the shop are designed to be low fat and no salt.
I try to cook up a meal like meat and veggies then add butter and cream or something else high in fat before blitzing them up. I then pop them in ice cube trays and freeze them.
When I make the batch, I write down the ingredients’ weight and how many grams of fat to work out the totals. Once I know this, I can then calculate how many grams of fat per gram of food, so I know how much Creon to give each serve.
One of our favourite meals as a family is lean meat and vegetables with baked potato. This can be easily tailored to Archer’s cystic fibrosis nutritional needs by adding sour cream, bacon and cheese.
