Maggey Potter’s Reviews > Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood > Status Update

When Julie arrives at her mother's house she meets her mom's new husband and their two adopted children. Julie asks the kids about school and notices that her mom is answering for Tina rather than Tina answering for herself. Sandy explains that Tina has a condition. Julie sniffs out that her mother is doing the same thing to Tina that was done to her. She realizes her mother is a monster and the cycle needs to end.

Julie turns her parents in for child abuse and gets all the foster kids taken away. She refuses to testify in court so she and Dany are still living at home. Julie finally leaves home without the help of the system and buys a car. She starts college where she learns about MBP. Her discovery confirms that her mother was the cause of her 'illness'. She cannot get anyone she tells to believe her story.

Julie's family seems normal when they put on a fake face in town. There are no relatives or neighbors to understand the horrors that are happening inside the walls of their trailer. On multiple occasions, Julie's mom has threatened to kill herself and the children have begged her to stop. Julie's mom tells her husband lies about the children so he can discipline them to "feel like a man".

Julie's Grandma Madge is always giving her 'candy' from her purse which ends up making her sick. She lies to Julie's parents and says someone else gave the candy to her. Finally, Julie's dad has enough and they move away so they are free of Madge. Julie's mom is always convinced that something is wrong with her daughter and tells her to 'act sick for the doctor to see how bad it is'.