{"id":390536,"date":"2018-12-26T02:40:29","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T01:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/a-soil-microbe-saved-my-life\/"},"modified":"2018-12-26T02:40:29","modified_gmt":"2018-12-26T01:40:29","slug":"a-soil-microbe-saved-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/a-soil-microbe-saved-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A Soil Microbe Saved My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure class=\"featured-media wp-caption\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"760\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"After nature helped me recover from cancer, I recognize the value of protecting it more than ever.\" itemprop=\"url\" srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378.jpg 760w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378-200x99.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378-400x199.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"760\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Truthout-Default-Image-1200x900.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image to4-lazy-load\" alt=\"After nature helped me recover from cancer, I recognize the value of protecting it more than ever.\" itemprop=\"url\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" data-src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378.jpg 760w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378-200x99.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-microbe-saved-my-life-main2-760x378-400x199.jpg 400w\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\" itemprop=\"caption\">&#8220;After nature helped me recover from cancer, I recognize the value of protecting it more than ever.&#8221;<\/figcaption><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-credit\" itemprop=\"author\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\"><span itemprop=\"name\">Courtesy of Emily Cassidy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\"><span class=\"postDate\">November 20, 2018 \u2014 <\/span>Before my first chemotherapy appointment, I read that some people taste the drugs as they are being injected. But all I could taste was the saline the nurse used to flush out the IV line. It tasted like I was swimming in saltwater and getting some up my nose.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ensia.com\/republished.php?title=A%20soil%20microbe%20saved%20my%20life\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Truthout-Default-Image-1200x900.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/ensia.com\/republished.php?title=A%20soil%20microbe%20saved%20my%20life\" data-srcset=\"\" srcset=\"\" class=\" to4-lazy-load\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\">Sitting there with tubes coming out of my arm being treated for Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma felt like I was having a bad dream. Like most 24 year-olds, I thought I knew a lot about the world. But I had no idea that soil bacteria would essentially save my life.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"selectionShareable\"><b>The Red Devil<\/b><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_253150\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506.jpg\" alt=\"The author after her first chemotherapy treatment.\" width=\"610\" height=\"506\" class=\"size-full wp-image-253150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506.jpg 610w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506-200x166.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506-400x332.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Truthout-Default-Image-1200x900.png\" alt=\"The author after her first chemotherapy treatment.\" width=\"610\" height=\"506\" class=\"size-full wp-image-253150 to4-lazy-load\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" data-src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506.jpg 610w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506-200x166.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/feature-emily-chemo-610x506-400x332.jpg 400w\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\" itemprop=\"caption\">The author after her first chemotherapy treatment.<\/figcaption><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-credit\" itemprop=\"author\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\"><span itemprop=\"name\">Courtesy of Emily Cassidy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\"><b\/>The drugs I received dripped down from clear bags hung from a metal pole, except for one. It was bright ruby red \u2014 Kool-Aid red \u2014 and instead of being administered with an IV drip like the rest, this one had to be injected with a syringe, \u201cpushed\u201d into my veins, as the nurses described it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\">\u201cIs it dye?\u201d I asked the nurse. \u201cNo, it just looks like that,\u201d she responded as the red liquid flowed into my arm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\">\u201cDo you know how it<span lang=\"FR\">\u2019<\/span>s made or where it comes from?\u201d I asked her. She shrugged and admitted she didn<span lang=\"FR\">\u2019<\/span>t.<\/p>\n<div class=\"banner_wrapper\" style=\"\">\n<div id=\"banner-247293\" class=\"banner subscribe-banner  banner-247293 bottom vert custom-banners-theme-default_style\" style=\"\"><a class=\"custom_banners_big_link\" href=\"#\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"banner_caption\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"banner_caption_inner\">\n<div class=\"banner_caption_text\" style=\"\">\n<p><strong>Uncompromised, uncompromising news<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Get reliable, independent news and commentary delivered to your inbox every day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"selectionShareable\">Chemo left me in a glassy-eyed haze that required a three-hour nap, but when I came out of it I started reading. I learned that the drug is called doxorubicin. More evocatively, it\u2019s also called the red devil \u2014 and not just because of its color. Hair loss, mouth sores and nausea are some of its many side effects. It also blisters the skin, so it must be handled carefully. I discovered that the drug was derived from a strain of soil bacteria found in the late 1950s in the dirt outside of a <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=iDNy0XxGqT8C&amp;pg=PA291&amp;lpg=PA291&amp;dq=streptomyces+peucetius+discovery+soil&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=7XhxWF-qPG&amp;sig=AyUbe387bZ-3-H1vUkaHhF379LE&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjSvayK4KzeAhXITd8KHSJfD9A4ChDoATACegQIBRAB#v=onepage&amp;q=streptomyces%20peucetius%20discovery%20soil&amp;f=false\" onclick=\"javascript:window.open('https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=iDNy0XxGqT8C&amp;pg=PA291&amp;lpg=PA291&amp;dq=streptomyces+peucetius+discovery+soil&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=7XhxWF-qPG&amp;sig=AyUbe387bZ-3-H1vUkaHhF379LE&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjSvayK4KzeAhXITd8KHSJfD9A4ChDoATACegQIBRAB#v=onepage&amp;q=streptomyces%20peucetius%20discovery%20soil&amp;f=false'); return false;\">13th century castle in Italy<\/a>. Not only that, I learned that the bleomycin I was taking was derived from bacteria,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/a-soil-microbe-saved-my-life\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;After nature helped me recover from cancer, I recognize the value of protecting it more than ever.&#8221;Courtesy of Emily Cassidy November 20, 2018 \u2014 Before my first chemotherapy appointment, I read that some people taste the drugs as they are being injected. But all I could taste was the saline the nurse used to flush [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":390537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-390536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}