Ice Bound, A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Dr. Jerri Nielsen.
Jim and I are reading this book - a powerful story about Dr. Jerri Nielsen's survival at the Pole. She provides fascinating detail about living at the coldest place on our planet and how that affects personalities and physiologies. We recommend this book to all of you for a great read and a uniquely moving experience. The courage and strength of this amazing woman will keep you riveted.
Nielsen's saga began in 1998, when was hired for one year at the South Pole Station on Antarctica. This perilous region sees only one sunrise and one sunset per year, and experiences almost total darkness for six months of winter, during which the temperature remains steady at around -60 °C (－76 °F)[3]. During this period, the station is also completely cut off from the world, as there exists no vehicles capable of operating in such cold weather. The "winterover" crew is thus stranded and must be entirely autonomous.
In the course of her work at the research station, Nielsen discovered a lump in her breast. After consulting US physicians via email and video conference, she performed a biopsy upon herself; the results were inconclusive, because the material used on site was too outdated to allow for a precise diagnosis.
The organization in charge of the station back in the U.S. decided to send a military plane to airdrop supplies and medication for her treatment. Such airdrops had been a yearly event several years earlier, when the station was run by the US Navy, but had later been stopped[4]. There exist no planes that can land in the cold temperatures experienced at the South Pole in the winter. Their skis would risk sticking to the ice, and their fuel and hydraulic lines would rapidly freeze. The drop was also made dangerous by the total darkness, and by the fact that the snow machines used on the ground to retrieve the packages before they froze was not designed to be used in such cold weather.
