The Kiwi Vine, Part 3
“Well”, he said after he carefully and assuredly pulled out the thorn out of my right eyelid with a sharp tug, “you are very, very lucky Mom. The thorn has pierced your eyelid sideways and did not touch your cornea at all. You could very easily have been blinded.”
“Wow. It doesn’t actually hurt that much, but it’s sure gonna bruise” I rejoined. “Ooh, that’s a big Mama thorn too. Did you take a photo?!” I asked, a Mom excited for her son to build his resumé.
“Nope. Should have though.”
“Dang. Want some dinner? Let’s take-out.”
“Good idea,” he said.
****
A few years later, I call my M.D. son, who is now a resident. [Yea, yea still proud… Mamas are, especially when all those decades of tuition are paid off.]
“Hey, I’ve got a weird bump on my right thumb. Any idea what it might be?” I turn the camera to selfie mode and show him. Free medical advice AND mother-child bonding long distance, such a deal.
“Hum. You been handling roses again?”
“Yup, annual pruning a few weeks ago and deadheading.”
“Looks like textbook Sporotrichosis”, he says typing in the background. “Cool,” he says nerdily excited by an ‘interesting’ medical diagnosis.
He tells me that Sporothrix schenckii is a naturally occurring fungus inhabiting soil, sphagnum, hay and, you guessed it roses. This fungus causes sporotrichosis of the skin, lungs and, in rare cases, can grow throughout the body in those with weakened immune systems. Though rarely officially diagnosed, skin punctures by rose thorns are likely sporotrichosis hence the name “rose gardener’s disease”. It’s also deleterious to, and transmissible by, cats.
Now he’s looked it up and reads aloud to me:
“Sporotrichosis usually affects the skin or tissues underneath the skin. The first symptom of cutaneous (skin) sporotrichosis is usually a small, painless bump that can develop any time from 1 to 12 weeks after exposure to the fungus. The bump can be red, pink, or purple, and usually appears on the finger, hand, or arm where the fungus has entered through a break in the skin. The bump will eventually grow larger and may look like an open sore or ulcer that is very slow to heal. Additional bumps or sores may appear later near the original one.” CDC Fungal Diseases, Sporotrichosis
“You sure don’t have the best luck with roses, but at least there isn’t a kiwi driving the point home,” he quipped with quick timing and a sure sense of humor.
“Ha ha. Well, at least I didn’t lose my eye,” I reply. “Come to think of it, I know a rose aficionado who had sporotrichosis. She needed surgery and nearly lost her thumb. Will I lose my thumb?”
“Doubtful. Your infection may resolve on its own, but you may need some antifungals. Go get it checked out.”
“Deal,” I say, happy to move off that topic. “Hey, let me take you around the other side of the garden. I want to show you The Pink Palace I made out of the kiwi for the girls when they were here.” I chattered, as I started walking.
“You getting more fruit now since you trellised that bad boy? I love those kiwi berries…”
****
Kiwi and roses are forever entwined in my psyche, woven together inextricably with my grandchildren and my son, three generations in all.
These are: The Stories Plants Tell About Their People
~ Fin ~
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Blog content: PlantShare LLC, copyright 2023 - present. All Rights Reserved.
Cover image by: Dina Russell, 2023.
