Julie Powell's daughter, Ann, suffered from ill-health of an unknown cause as a child. She had nasty rashes and many other symptoms. Below is a picture of Ann's legs with a very painful looking rash on them.

Ann is now 21 and almost certainly had undiagnosed Pink Disease as a child. Julie has now finished writing a book about Ann’s illness, called "The Mercury Spectrum".

In the lengthy and beautifully written first chapter, she gives a detailed description of the development of Ann’s symptoms and the emotional roller coaster ride she was put on by doctors determined to fit Ann into a specific category of ill health. The doctors continually gave the same diagnosis and prescribed the same treatments again and again even though the diagnosis didn't appear to match the symptoms Ann had and the treatments didn’t work. >

In this wonderful first chapter, Julie captures the emotional angst, despair, anger, frustration and turmoil that she went through as she tried to find a diagnosis and treatment that worked for Ann’s health problems. I could feel Julie’s pain, anger, despondency, and sense of helplessness.

I think every family doctor and paediatrician should read the first chapter for two reasons. Doctors need to understand how mothers with chronically sick babies feel. This is what most of our mothers went through – endless days of worry and stress and despair as their Pink Disease baby languished. The chapter also very thoroughly describes the symptoms of an uncommon ailment.

Julie's book is worth buying for the first chapter alone but the other chapters are equally informative. They include a history of mercury poisonings, a Pink Disease chapter which includes my story and Heather’s story, and chapters about the biochemistry of mercury and current research - over 200 pages of worthwhile reading in all.

At the present time, it can only be purchased via the internet – http://www.themercuryspectrum.com.