“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The day was warm—50 degrees—and sunny. When I got to room 330 I saw that Jane had the patches back on her right elbow and the little toes of her left foot. Not that they had broken out again—but this morning Georgia and Cathy had put them on just to protect those areas. I didn’t know whether to rip them off or not [I did take the one off the elbow later in the afternoon]. The staff had also told Jane that it looked like she may develop a sore in a new spot on a shoulder blade, so they’d slapped a dressing there too. I meant to investigate that one when I turned Jane later in the day, but forgot to. She said nothing there has bothered her.

(I told Jane the important thing was that the areas hadn’t broken down, and that was what counted. She understood. She explained a bit later that she’d been upset—and blue afterward—about going to hydro this morning. New people were there to take care of her because Lottie and Darlene and Barb were pulled off for other duty—perhaps for some time. The male nurse who assisted Jane got her on the litter backward, Jane said. He had to be shown what to do, nor did he know how to move her. In spite of it all things went well, Jane said, though “they” ran the water more heavily than the old staff members did, and Jane said she couldn’t try to move her feet as easily with the increased pressure of the water. Darlene did help return Jane to 330, and showed the others how to put my wife back in bed. I told Jane I supposed it was a good thing that others learned how to handle her; someone could always get sick, or quit, etc., and Jane agreed. She seemed to have handled the episode okay.

(Then Jane told me that the night nurse, Toni, whom I’ve yet to meet, tried to help her lay on her right side last night, for the first time since she’d broken the leg. Oddly enough, the break didn’t bother Jane, since a pillow was used beneath the leg as a cushion—but, Jane said, her feet did, so she didn’t stay in that position for more than fifteen minutes. But the fact that she’d moved onto her right side at all was a help, I said, another step along the way.

(4:25. Left foot, head, moving gently. “My right leg is moving, but I guess you can’t even tell by looking at it,” she said. I saw a few spasmodic motions around the knee area. Jane lay with her hands crossed on her chest. I told her the right leg was starting, and that was good. She lifted her left leg and moved the foot. “When the right foot moves, the right ankle, then I stop,” Jane said. “I shouldn’t do that.” I reminded her that yesterday Seth had said the right leg discomfort was only temporary. She moved her head and torso up off the bed a bit, then groaned: “That right foot tried to come up off the bed.”

(I was surprised to learn that she had considered not telling me about her morning’s episode that brought on the blues: hydro. The situation reminded me of my wife’s strong secretive streak in her makeup—one much like mine, I thought. I also think this streak has played a large part in her “symptoms” over the years, and that each one of us ought to work hard at eliminating, or at least minimizing, that aspect of our personalities. I think this is an important point, and one I meant to go into with her, but didn’t. I’ll mention it tomorrow, Tuesday. I think that each of us can help keep the other on an even keel by talking about our hidden tendencies.

(Jane ate another good supper. I told her its obvious now that her body is filling itself in gradually, for it has a softer look. As I was getting ready to leave after reading her the prayer at 7:00 PM, Jane said she could feel that she could “take off” with more motions right then. Her left foot was moving. I told her that it was safe for her to move after I left—that is, when she was alone, I’d pulled up the guardrails, so she was in no danger of falling out of bed, etc. She knew that, and said she would do some movements. It was another sign of the body’s willingness to move at any time, I thought.