A Cactus Blooms For My Mother

2008

My father dug a Golden Barrel cactus out of the desert more than 25 years ago, when he and my mom were living in Desert Hot Springs, CA. They had moved there in their retirement, and they cultivated a lovely little desert garden in their front yard. After my dad died, my mom moved closer to the coast, and Roger and I inherited the Golden Barrel. We've had it for more than 20 year now and have schlepped it from place to place. It's gotten bigger and much harder to move around, but it's been to Santa Cruz, Port Townsend, WA, Grass Valley, and now here in the northern coastal climate of Arcata. We noticed two flower buds on it a few month ago. Didn't give it much thought, because it is so foggy, cloudy, gray and cool here most of the time. Then there were even more buds, but why would a poor old cactus bloom here, we wondered?

The purple arrow is pointing to the cactus in our Port Townsend living room, ca 2006

On Friday, my mom went to the oncologist's office to get the results of her liver biopsy. My older brother Marc and my sister Lynn were with her. Lynn was texting me, and I was on the phone with my twin brother Michael. It was definitely a long-distance family moment. The doctor said to my mother, "I have good news for you. It's Follicular Lymphoma." Now at first the word lymphoma sounds pretty awful, but when we learned more about it, we could see why the doctor thought this was good, compared to what other things he might have had to say.

The Mayo Clinic website is incredibly informative about Follicular Lymphoma. We thought the most relevant part was this:

Your treatment options are determined based on the type and stage of your lymphoma, your age, and your overall health.

Treatment isn't always necessary

If your lymphoma appears to be slow growing (indolent), a wait-and-see approach may be an option. Indolent lymphomas that don't cause signs and symptoms may not require treatment for years.
Delaying treatment doesn't mean you'll be on your own. Your doctor will likely schedule regular checkups every few months to monitor your condition and ensure that your cancer isn't advancing.

My mom has a follow-up visit in three months. She will have blood tests and another CT scan of her chest. She is in good health. She is asymptomatic. We think she has many years of life ahead, and we are all breathing a sigh of relief (and dancing wildly in joy!).

On Friday,  just before my mom's appointment, I went out to the yard and noticed this. The Golden Barrel cactus was BLOOMING. This is its first bloom in 25 years. The magnificent serendipitous nature of the universe sent a flower to my mother from a plant my father had loved a long, long time ago. Aren't coincidences the most wonderful thing.