In 2005 Doug and I were gifted with a peace Lilly. It had many beautiful white blooms on it when it came to live at our house. I transplanted it to a larger pot once. When the leaves droop, I water it.
When the original white flowers said good-bye, I was sure others would soon replace them. For the entire year of 2006 and even 2007 up until November no white flower appeared—just lovely large green leaves that called to me when they needed a drink of water.
Doug was diagnosed with cancer in October. As I was watering Lilly one day in November just one white flower shot up through the foliage to greet me. It lasted a long time. It reminded me that God’s second book is nature. It was a message I needed at that particular time. It may seem a bit way out but I took that one white flower on a peace Lilly as a sign of encouragement as we faced some very dark days.
That bloom is gone.
Friday was the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event here in Burleson. If you have never observed one in your town, you must go just for the first 1-2 hours for the opening as well as to watch the first lap around the track. (The event lasts all night long and one member from each team in on the track walking throughout the night.)
We first became involved with Relay through our ministry-driven Sabbath School class in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a real witness/ministry to have our very-community-prominent church involved with so many other churches, businesses and not-for-profit teams in something so positive and important. So when we moved to Texas I went to check out the one in this city. It wasn’t the same because I didn’t know anyone or wasn’t part of a team.
This year was different. The impact hit home. The monies raised go for cancer research as well as to help those people who could not otherwise afford testing and cancer treatment. Relay does not focus on any one cancer like Race for the Cure does for the fight against Breast Cancer for example.
I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say that Doug walked the “survivors lap" around the track (standard size high school track with teams camped every inch around it). Survivor t-shirts were purple so the survivors were easily identified when they all together take that first lap. As they walked or were pushed in wheel chairs or pulled in little red wagons around the track people cheered and clapped encouragment.
The caregiver lap was next and then all the teams from various community groups walked as a team. From then on one member from each team would stay on the track all night long.
It was encouraging to see the hundreds of survivors in this one small city. I don’t have the exact count yet but there were hundreds of all ages. When I get time I’ll post a picture of Doug. The back of his shirt said, “Celebrate but Remember. Fight back”. We are fighting.
We start the stem cell transplant journey tomorrow morning. Doug gets the central line “port” put in his chest. He has been on oral chemo all this time so this will be a new thing. He’ll be in the clinic for labs and then surgery which, according to our schedule, won’t last long but Doug will need to remain in the hospital at least 6 hours after surgery to be sure all is well with his new enhancement!
Today I bought some nylon tape and some cloth tape to see which will work best. We'll put “Press and Seal” over the bandage and tape that to Doug who has to have a shower to function. He knows the risk of infection so will be very cautious. I’m sure we both have a lot to learn.
The peace Lilly has been flower-free for a couple of months now. Last week one white flower looked up at me as I gave the plant her drink….Lilly's flower stands tall today.
~Carole
