1/23/44 Mr. [...]'s ltr. to EC:
Edgar Cayce, Esq.,
Association for Research and Enlightenment,
Virginia Beach,
Virginia
Dear Mr. Cayce:
In your letter of October 6, 1943, which set February 1, from
10:30 to 11:30 A.M., for a check reading for our daughter,
[
3049], you suggested that we send you a list of questions,
and let you know the exact address at which she will be at
the time appointed.
Mrs. [...] and I plan to be with her at our home, which is at
..., New York. And the questions to which we hope answers
may be given, listed in approximately our idea of their
importance, are as follows:
1. Have we been following your instructions properly?
2. Is she taking the proper gland medication?
3. How can we get proper lenses for her?
4. Is her hip out of place? If so, what can be done to
correct it?
5. Is there any chronic trouble in her throat? If so, what
can be done to remedy it?
6. How far is her unclear vision affecting her mental
processes and coordination?
7. Is she overcoming her innate fear? How can we help her
in that regard.
8. Why is she not talking, and what can be done to teach her
to use her voice?
With these questions, I am enclosing a case history that has
been prepared with some care by Mrs. [...]. Both of us hope
that we are giving you the information that you require, and
we are looking forward eagerly and optimistically to your
report.
CASE HISTORY OF [
3049]
Daughter of Mr. & Mrs. [...]
[
3049] was born August 14, 1931.
In early infancy she was discovered to have a "low thyroid"
condition. At about two months she was started on 1/10 grain
of thyroid daily - before she was one year old she was taking
1/4 grain thyroid daily.
At the age of one year she was placed under the supervision
of a gland specialist, who continued her thyroid medication,
added parathyroid for a period of one or two years, and added
pituitary medication. She worked up to 1 grain of thyroid a
day, although for about 3 years now she has been taking only
1/2 grain daily. She worked up to 6 grains of anterior lobe
pituitary plus 2 grains of full pituitary per day and has
been taking that amount for four or five years.
At one month of age we discovered she had congenital
cataracts in both eyes, and was blind to everything but
light. The constant moving of her eyes and her blinking
at a strong light suggested vision obstructed by cataracts,
and not total blindness. She was placed in the hands of
eminent eye doctors.
At 10 months of age she had the first of a series of
"needling" operations under the direction of the late
Dr. Wheeler of the N.Y. Medical Center and by a method
developed by him. The first operation was on only one
eye, the one that had the densest cataract. At 12 months
a second "needling" operation was performed - this time on
both eyes. At about 2 1/2 years of age she had the final
operation - the slitting open of the lenses to allow for
sight.
Before her final eye operation she had begun to talk, using
a few words such as "Daddy", and "Hello." The sudden
elimination of the "curtain" against her vision was a
serious psychological shock to her. Things seemed almost
to come up and hit her in - to her - a most frightening
manner. The first week after her return from the hospital
she screamed and pawed the air. Then she taught herself to
turn away from anything that came close to her, and finally
she taught herself not to look. And she stopped talking.
At four years of age she was operated on for the removal of
tonsils and adenoids - her fourth experience under ether.
At the age of one she turned over in bed for the first time,
by herself.
At the age of three she took her first steps, but did not
walk alone until she was four. Even yet she is almost
stubbornly hesitant on unfamiliar ground.
Inasmuch as her lenses were necessarily destroyed by the
cataract operations, experiment with glasses began. Her
first glasses were put on her at the age of 16 months, and
since that time at least 7 or 8 different lenses have been
tried with her, in an effort to give her clear vision.
Fitting of the glasses was always guess work and the "guess"
was made by watching her re-actions, noticing at what
distance she reached for certain things, et cetera. When she
was about 5 years old she began to be more interested in
looking, although it has been an exceedingly slow and
difficult process to teach her to LOOK. She was influenced
for the most part of her other senses, especially hearing and
touch, and only within the last two years has she become
really interested in looking and investigating.
At the age of 5 and 6 years she attended a private nursery
school which was attended by about 20 normal, active
children. She could not enter their activities but she
enjoyed it on the sidelines - the teacher told us the
children understood her and she them, and they did things
to help her until she learned not only to expect their help
but to "ask" for it in her silent manner, which they seemed
to understand. During that experience of school attendance
- two years - she seemed stimulated and unusually active.
She was then home for three years - with home training - and
one of those years a teacher from the public schools come in
regularly. She responded quite well, to the training.
When she was about 5 or 6 years old she began picking up a
few words again, mimicking not only favorite household words,
but the mannerism and inflection of the ones who used them
most. She always spoke CLEARLY whenever she spoke - no
thickness in her voice. "Oh dear, oh dear," - "well, well"
- "terrible" - "yes" - "mama" - and on two occasions (at
about 9 years of age) she used sentences. On one occasion
she said distinctly to me, while reaching out and touching
my dress, "Hmm - I like this dress." (The dress had large,
bright flowers on it.) On another occasion, at lunch time,
I said to her "Are you hungry?" Her immediate reply was "I
should say so."
Over the years she has made her wants so clearly understood
that she has not found it necessary to talk - we have tried
various ways of making her do so but the habit of silence
has been more accentuated the past three years than formerly
- until recently.
At the age of eleven she was sent to boarding school for
handicapped children. She was there only one month, for
she became critically ill with a serious throat infection,
due to severe auto-intoxication resulting from a dangerous
neglect of her physical habits. She was taken to the
hospital for special and drastic treatment, partially
recovered, and then had bronchial pneumonia, followed
two months later by laryngitis. She has been under home
supervision ever since.
In the spring of 1943 (at 11 1/2) years of age) she was
placed in the hands of a competent physician and child
specialist of high reputation who is now supervising her
care, and who is in understanding sympathy with Mr. Cayce's
work. He has called in, to assist him, an experienced and
unusually able spiritual psychologist under whose direction
[
3049] has responded to a marked degree.
Treatments according to Mr. Cayce's instructions began
the first week of July, 1943. An immediate re-action was
noticed. All her life, previous to the wet cell appliance
treatments, it had been necessary to give her mineral oil,
or suppositories, or both, every day. Within five days of
the time we started the treatments it became unnecessary
to use any such regular aid to her elimination, although
she occasionally needs a little such help.
Some weeks thereafter she began to have great bursts of
undirected energy. She threw her arms in happy excitement,
kicked her legs rapidly, and "shimmied" almost violently
all over. She still has these bursts of energy although
they seem to be becoming more directed.
Her mind seems so busy - she has always been happy and is
increasingly so. She has always appeared to have a sort
of "sixth" sense of understanding - for instance, she knows
when anyone she loves is troubled, and so keeps very close
to them and shows an unusual amount of affection at that
time, or, if I, for instance, am unusually busy she seems
to know she is "helping" me by entertaining herself
contentedly the while and making no demands whatsoever
on my attention until I am through. She seems always to
absorb whatever atmosphere surrounds her with a complete
understanding. She also understands everything SAID to her
and re-acts accordingly. She is amenable, considerate,
impartial, has a sense of humor, enjoys playing a joke, in
her odd way. She loves companionship, she loves
accomplishment. She has never been ugly in disposition,
although she is determined and has a mind of her own. She
tries hard to have her own way but if she finds it impossible
she accepts the inevitable gracefully and turns to other
interests.
She has always been passionately fond of music - good music
- and she loves to be read to. She enjoys playing ball.
She loves to swing, and to rock. She has never used her
hands much - to hold things - until the last few years.
Now she will not only hold things, but carry them, and do
slight errands, on request. She is very easily startled.
Recently she has been finding her voice and though she has
not spoken any words for the last year or two (with about
two or three exceptions) she is now beginning to make
definite sounds, some whispers and some loud, full-voice
sounds. She gets very excited about it. Also she frequently
experiments with shaping her lips as if to speak and on
several occasions we have thought she was about to speak
to us, then suddenly she would relax her efforts. She
seems to be inhibited psychologically. We use praise and
sympathy, and try to use it wisely, though it is difficult
to know the wise course. We try to follow our impulses and
intuitions.
She matured at the age of 12 years and 3 months (November
1943) and since that time her development has seemed more
rapid and more marked. Something seems to be developing
within her - it may not be as obvious to the casual observer
- but her co-ordination in every way seems to be definitely
better. She walks better, feeds herself better, is more
active, has more self-assurance, more definite desires,
a better understanding of things in general. She seems
to be of a more investigatory state of mind, and frequently
looks intently and interestedly at people and things,
apparently thinking about what she sees, though her vision
still appears, as we notice her re-actions toward everything
in general, to be very unclear.
She gives us the feeling that she is soon to break whatever
bonds are holding her, and come forth her natural self.
[
3049]'s mother
2/01/44 See
3049-2.
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation