Shit, I was only gone from here a few days to take care of my dad while he was sick, and somehow this story entered the seventh level of hell with a quickness. I'm desperately trying not to think about what I've seen over the past 20 minutes of catching up; suffice it to say, the sky will be a bit less blue and the birds' song won't sound quite as sweet when I wake up tomorrow morning.
I do want to address this one point, however:
Re: dark, scaly patches of skin. When these occur on or near skin folds, especially the inner thighs and the neck area, it can be a sign of blood sugar that has gone wildly out of control, and is most common in people who are overweight (it's called, and I swear to Christ this is the real name of the condition, acanthosis nigricans). Given Julie's diet, I don't think it would be any sort of stretch to say that she's likely got type II diabetes, or is pre-diabetic at the very least.