Ice Bound : A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole

by Nielsen, Jerri; Vollers, Maryanne

• ISBN13: 9780786866847
• ISBN10: 0786866845
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-18
• Publisher: Miamax

Summary

The Antarctic winter, with temperatures 100ø below zero, shuts supply lines down completely; conditions are too treacherous for planes or boats & the only connection with the rest of the world is satellite hook-up. During the long winter of 1999, Dr. Nielsen, the only physician on a staff of forty-one people, discovered a lump in her breast. Consulting via satellite e-mail with doctors in the U.S., she was forced to perform a biopsy & in June began to treat herself with chemotherapy, in order to insure that she could survive until conditions permitted her rescue in October. A daring rescue by the Air National Guard ensued, who landed, dropped off a replacement physician, & in less than five minutes took off with Dr. Nielsen. Set in one of the most remote & desolate yet strikingly beautiful landscapes on earth, Jerri Nielsen's narrative of her transforming experiences is a thrilling adventure of researchers & scientists embattled by a hostile environment, a chronicle of the marvels -- & limits -- of modern medical technology, & a penetrating exploration of the dynamics of an isolated, intensely connected community faced with adversity. But at its core this is a powerfully moving drama of one woman's voyage of self-discovery & courage & the fierce dedication of scores of colleagues -- both known & unknown to her -- whose aid proved to be her salvation.

Table of Contents

Prelude	xv
The Geographic Cure	1	(22)
Through the Looking Glass	23	(22)
Great God, This Is an Awful Place	45	(26)
The Hard Truth Medical Centre	71	(28)
Going Polar	99	(24)
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death	123	(22)
Three Shades of Twilight	145	(18)
Darkness, Darkness	163	(22)
The Sea Change	185	(30)
The Other Side of Winter	215	(22)
From Hell on Earth	237	(22)
Club Med	259	(34)
The Longest Month	293	(24)
Endurance	317	(20)
Deliverance	337	(20)
Epilogue	357