"Ice Bound" by Jerri Nielsen
Ice Bound is available at Amazon.com.
What Sara Wheeler did for traveling in Antarctica, Jerri Nielsen's bestseller does for living in Antarctica. Dr. Nielsen made international news when she discovered that she had breast cancer during a long Antarctic winter at the South Pole. The base is customarily shut down during the nine months of winter because temperatures as low as -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73 Celsius) and high winds prohibit the landing of any kind of craft at the base. (Jet fuel essentially turns to jelly at -58 Fahrenheit.)
Jerri Nielsen was stranded at the South Pole base with breast cancer, no way to get out, and no access to another physician. Dr. Nielsen's battle with cancer provides a dramatic backdrop for her equally compelling description of life on Antarctica's polar plateau. Living in extreme weather conditions and coping with 24 hours of darkness takes a toll on the human psyche. Base residents have developed some creative coping mechanisms--some mundane, others quite bizarre. Dr. Nielsen entertainingly describes day-to-day affairs such as running the company store (everyone takes a turn at the sales counter, including the doctor), holiday parties, and supply drops (because the cold prevents planes from landing, during favorable weather they fly over, drop supply crates, and hope they don't spill too many of their contents.) The more bizarre includes her bid to join the 300 club, which only accepts members when temperatures hit -100 degrees Fahrenheit. To gain membership one warms up in a 200 degree sauna, sprints outside wearing nothing but boots to circle around the South Pole flag, and returns to the sauna before losing too many appendages to frostbite. Equally enthralling is her biopsy surgery, which she was forced to perform herself with one of the base mechanics assisting.
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I enjoyed this book very much when I first read it. Would be interested if there are any update articles or other publications on Dr. Nielsen today.
There have been recent news stories about Jerri Nielsen. She survived and remained cancer-free for many years. She spent her time traveling around the country speaking about her experiences. Unfortunately, I heard that in recent years the cancer came back and that she is not doing so well. I will post when I find the articles.
By the way, this story was turned into a movie starring Susan Sarandon. It is available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Bound-Susan-Sarandon/dp/B00062WT1U
We heard the sad news today that Dr. Jerri Neilsen Fitzgerald died today, June 24, 2009, of breast cancer. May she rest in peace. The story can be found here:
http://www.wtkr.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-obit-jerri-nielsen,0,7263525.story
Interesting that another Antarctic pioneer, and the first American woman to set foot on the Antarctic continent, Edith Ronne, passed away this week also. She wrote a book about her experiences here but it is out of print and I haven't been able to track it down. When I do, I'll review it for Girlebooks. Until then, here is the link to her obit:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-ronne2112896513jun18,0,6925061.story
As you can tell from my blogs, I am very interested in Antarctica. I have entered a contest to become the official blogger for an Antarctic cruise. If you would take a few minutes to log in and vote for me, I would be eternally greatful! Here is the link. When you get to the site, just click the "vote for me" link under my picture. You have to create an ID and Password, but they don't spam you or anything. The ID is just to confirm that you are a real person and not a computer program.
Thanks a million!