What makes her story incredible is that modern science filled her veins with poison that was strong enough to kill all of her working bone marrow. Thanks to Paracelsus we know that the difference between a drug and a poison is the dose. All drugs in large doses are poisons. A few drugs in small doses are also poisons. But cancer drugs are the poison. In Robin Roberts the poison we gave her killed her bone marrow.
The link between some cancer drugs and poisons are clear. Mustard gas was used during WWI to incapacitate or kill enemy solders. It was discovered that human cells did not grow and divide and bone marrow did not work as well after an exposure to mustard gas. From that finding a terrible poison used in the battlefield became a drug to treat cancer. The difference between a horrible poison and a life saving drug is blurred even more.
Robins Roberts has shown tremendous courage and spirit. She is a testament to what the human body can endure and is a testament to modern medicine. Medicine used a poison to kill her bone marrow, then used a donor's marrow to help rebuild her body. The drugs she is taking now to prevent rejection, manage adverse effects and help her rebuild are much safer than her cancer drugs. We can now go back to Paracelsus and remember that the difference between a drug and a poison is the dose.
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