When Gregory finally realized what her mother was doing to her, she attempted to tell several people about the situation, but those she told either expressed disbelief or paid no attention. Only upon telling her work counselor, a professional bound to disclose allegations of abuse to authorities, was the abusive behavior of her parents finally realized by others. A fan of warm weather, Pebbles loves summertime, which gives her the opportunity to sit on the steps of her family’s pool and soak up the sun. As soon as Pebbles wakes up from her doggy doze, she has something to eat and drink before staying up all night. At the time Julie had no idea that being dragged to hospital after hospital was not how every child was treated. Her mother coached her on exactly what she was to say to the doctors.

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Gregory's mother has seen the book and read parts of it to Gregory's father over the phone. And what did she think of it? "My mom's not all there," says Gregory. "She talks about getting heart catheterisation herself now without having a memory that she did that to me. The children she now has are on drugs for schizophrenia, asthma and stomach ulcers. My dad hasn't read the book himself, but he is very supportive of my work. He tells me: you have a right to tell what happened to you in childhood; I don't disbelieve you; I'm only sorry I didn't help you sooner."MBP could be presented in many ways… such as the Pine Sol scene from above or say, poisoning your child with excessive amounts of salt or um….tainting your child’s urine with your own blood… In Julie Gregory’s case it included not feeding your child and then bringing them to the doctor saying that they are listless and weak (duh) or convincing the child that something is wrong with their heart and introducing doctor upon doctor until the mother (it’s usually a female caretaker) finds a doctor willing to run a battery of invasive tests to determine the problem and then screaming at the doctor when he refuses to do open heart surgery on the kid. Hmmm… When I was 13, I was cut open for a heart catheterization," Gregory said. "I didn't know I was in the hospital for an actual surgery."

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A new account of growing up the victim of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy is harrowing reading, writes Sylvia Thompson. He looked at her and I could see in his face that he thought there was something wrong with her. He got really stern and he said “she doesn't need anything more. She doesn't need open heart surgery” and he just turned and walked away.The language was so...over the top I guess is the best word? Embellished? It makes it hard to connect with the story at its core. There's only so much screaming and abuse you can read about before it all becomes a wave of blah. You have to care about the people and emotions involved, and I never got there. This passage represents the struggles Julie must face at each doctor’s appointment in an effort to please her mother. Here, Julie does not even understand what a headache is. Throughout her story, she sights various occasions in which she does not understand what the doctors or her mother say. When Julie says she is trying to answer correctly, she must guess at what her mother wants to hear. Julie lies to doctors so her mother will not get upset. I can not imagine having to lie about my health and the fear Julie faces. If Julie tells the truth, her mother may return home yelling at her father. If Julie lies about her symptoms, she will be forced on medication she does not need which could make her ill. Julie is an innocent girl, and this passage causes the reader to empathize with Julie and wish to grab her hand and help her.