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Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole
by Maryanne Vollers
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Miramax (2001-01-18)
ISBN: 0786866845
EAN: 9780786866847
Dewy Decimal #: 610.92
Hardcover: 384 pages
Edition: 1
Release Date: 2001-01-18
SKU: 113449
Condition: Very Good
Comments: 0786866845 Book absent of markings. Cover shows light to moderate wear esp. at edges. Interior evidences little to no use. Overall, a very serviceable copy. Your book will be carefully protected for transit in sturdy, weather-resistant packaging. We are prompt, efficient, communicative.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Jerri Nielsen was a forty-six-year-old doctor working in Ohio when she made the decision to take a year's sabbatical at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica, the most remote and perilous place on Earth. The "Polies," as they are known, live in almost total darkness for six months of the year, in winter temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero--with no way in or out before the spring. During the long winter of 1999, Dr. Nielsen, solely responsible for the mental and physical fitness of a team of researchers, construction workers, and support staff, discovered a lump in her breast. Consulting via email with doctors in the United States, she performed a biopsy on herself, and in July began chemotherapy treatments to ensure her survival until condition permitted her rescue in October. A daring rescue by the Air National Guard ensued, who landed, dropped off a replacement physician, and minutes later took off with Dr. Nielsen. This is Dr. Nielsen's own account of her experience at the Pole, the sea change as she becomes "of the Ice," and her realization that as she would rather be on Antarctica than anywhere else on earth. It is also a thrilling adventure of researchers and scientists embattled by a hostile environment; a penetrating exploration of the dynamics of an isolated, intensely connected community faced with adversity; and, at its core, a powerfully moving drama of love and loss, of one woman's voyage of self-discovery through an extraordinary struggle for survival.
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Amazon.com Review
Serving as doctor to the Americans "wintering over" at the South Pole in 1999, Jerri Nielsen made headlines when she discovered a lump in her breast that a self-administered biopsy revealed to be an aggressive, fast-growing cancer. No flights in or out of Antarctica are possible during the continent's long winter, and Nielsen's account of giving herself chemotherapy while she and her fellow "Polies" waited for the weather to break is even more gripping than the news reports at the time. She's candid about her pain and fear; the media battle waged by her embittered ex-husband makes her ordeal even more challenging. Interestingly enough, however, this high drama does not overshadow Nielsen's deeper narrative of a woman who came "to the Ice" seeking new meaning in a life shattered by divorce and estrangement from her children. In the back-to-basics world of Antarctic medicine, with outdated equipment, few supplies, and no assistants, she rediscovered her vocation as a doctor, free from the imperatives of corporate-directed medicine. More importantly, Nielsen found spiritual solace in the world's most extreme environment, where she was "introduced slowly to the notion of giving more than you have and using less than you need ... of knowing that all you really own are your own thoughts." She makes the glories of the Pole so palpable that, by the end, readers will not even be surprised when she signs an e-mail to her family, "from the wonderful Ice." --Wendy Smith
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Customer Reviews
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Inspiring, but doesn't teach about cancer
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-11-15
Ice Bound by Dr. Jerri Nielsen is the doctor's account of dealing with her own breast cancer at the South Pole. In the dead of winter, when no planes are allowed to land at the Pole because of hazardous conditions, Dr. Nielsen discovers a lump in her breast. Dr. Nielsen has a history of fibrocystic legions, especially during her menstrual cycles, so she simply leaves the lump and doesn't tell anyone about it for a month or so. She's the only doctor at the South Pole station, and she doesn't want anyone to be worrying about her condition because there's obviously no chance of her receiving help or having a doctor come in to replace her for a long while, until Antarctic summer comes and a plane can land at the Pole.
Working with a team of doctors in the United States through email, phone, and a web cam sort of setup, Nielsen and the people at the Pole helping her--"Club Med"--discover that the lump is actually cancerous. Published originally in 2001, the better part of the story takes place during Nielsen's "winter-over" experience at the South Pole in 1999.
There's no doubt that this story is very inspiring. Dr. Nielsen has to wait months to receive proper treatment for the cancer while still performing her regular duties at the Pole station, including being the doctor and nurse--one person medical team--for 41 other team members "wintering-over" at the Pole, keeping inventory at the hospital, keeping the hospital clean, dealing with operation of the Pole Store, etc. Dr. Nielsen's book was also very helpful to me because I don't personally know anyone that has had to deal with cancer, so I was able to get a better perspective on what cancer is really like.
The only issue that I had with the book was that I wished it explained more about cancer from the medical sense. Yes, there were some statistics about breast cancer sent back and forth between Dr. Nielsen and her doctor in the states, Dr. Kathy Miller, but I wish there would've been a chapter on the general cause of cancer and then specific details, statistics, and information on breast cancer. I do, however, recommend this book, especially if you enjoy reading real life adventure stories.
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Interesting look into isolation and teamwork
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-10-08
Though this book is on the surface a story of her struggles of cancer and her situation, and no doubt this aspect of the book has been dealt with ad infinitem, I found this book very interesting for another reason.
It was particularily interesting to see how closely bonded people can become with each other in an extremly dangerous isolated situation. And really made one appreciate what a "TEAM" is really meant to be, for they all worked together to make life possible and they all were completely interdependant.
Descriptions for example of how they watched TV together were real eye opening into the human depths and needs. Or how much a single leaf of lettuce can mean between friends were cause to to make one think. It has a lot to say regarding how much we take for granted in our wasteful society. Perhap every wasteful person should spend a season in these conditions to appreciate just how much we have...or at least read this book.
It was also a very "cool" look into antarctic life and the one minute shower and other curious details were really interesting. I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this. I have always liked antarctica material and this was certainly a great read for that and other aspects.
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Audio CD review: Emotionally Immature and Not as Heroic as I'd Imagined
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-06-22
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I was prepared to love this, but ended up disliking it for several reasons.
Her voice is gruff and sounded good at first, but the pacing and reading started grating on my nerves by the end of the second CD. Like most cases, it would have been better to hire a professional reader.
More importantly, I felt Dr. Nielson is an extremely emotionally immature person. She rails against her ungrateful children who "abandoned" her and her sociopathic ex-husband (who supposedly stranged a dog in front of her, and used to drive against traffic to intimidate her). At the same time, she paints herself as an innocent, noting only briefly she had an affair because she basically emotionally had to....of course, this sounds a bit crazy. Even assuming what she says about her husband is true, any time someone is hooked up with psychos for decades, something is a little wrong with them, too. I felt her complaints about her ex and children made her look worse and made me question her own emotional stability.
At the same time, she describes her adventures at the Pole the same way I think a teenager would. She struck me as self absorbed, narcissistic and dramatic. There appears to be an enormous amount of socializing there, with all sorts of stupid parties all the time, movie nights, coffee clatches, etc. Also, I kid you not when I say that every single person and almost every single room, city, area, and numerous objects, etc. at the Pole has an annoying nickname. Another example? She develops an overt crush on someone married and doesn't hide it.
Finally, I had thought she actually did the lumpectomy herself. All she does is a needle biopsy!!! I have experienced a breast needle biopsy and while I certainly had the benefit of a topical anesthetic (which I don't think she did), it was not a big deal. After that, she is air dropped chemo, and then does IVs of chemo, with assistance via satellite each time, and a friend to help do it. Then, she is airlifted out.
Frankly, the pilots who air dropped the chemo and then airlifted her out (at the earliest, coldest time the pole had ever been flown to) are the real heroes here.
If you want to read about self medical procedures, I would suggest the kid who cut his right arm off while hiking in Utah. I haven't read it but I saw the Tom Brokaw special about it, and it was very solid. It's interesting how the parents ultimately found the kid....
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Ice Bound
Rating (1)
Date: 2008-04-25
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
Jerri Nielsen's Ice Bound came highly recommended to me. While it initially began well, it soon became obvious that the author had a lot of growing up to do. Unfortunately, the South Pole experience didn't seem to speed up the process. She is so caught up in her interpretation of events that she fails to understand or see what others are telling or showing her. I wonder if this is at the core of her family problems. The final straw for me was after reading her doctor's email assuring her that her chances for longevity were still very possible, and she immediately writes to her own family and tells them just the opposite. The fact that she had the nerve to continue scaring her family and misrepresent the doctor's analysis made me lose any sympathy I might have had for her. Jerri's mom, however, must be quite a lady, as evident by her remarks comparing her daughter's perspective on her ice family to cult. Now, I'd like to read a book about her mom, but forget the daughter!
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Lacks Insight
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-12-06
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book provides the "behind the scenes" details of the experience of Jerri Nielsen who was diagnosed with and forced to treat her own breast cancer using non-medical personnel while she was the only doctor stationed at the South Pole during polar winter. Much of the book is about her experience of life at the pole and her relationships with her fellow "Polies".
As someone who began reading this with very little knowledge of the South Pole station, I most enjoyed the information about what life is like there for the brave and crazy folks who opt to winter-over at the coldest place on earth. They are unreachable by even the most advanced aviation because jet fuel turns to Jell-o in the horrifically cold weather they experience. It was interesting to hear description of what they wore, where they slept, how they kept warm, how they entertained themselves and how they remained connected to the outside world. At the time of Dr. Nielsen's employment (1999), they only had a satellite available for a few hours a day to exchange emails and contact with their friends and family. One interesting tidbit of information, while then-President Clinton visited New Zealand all usage of the satellite was reserved for him. I know so much about this because the book includes many emails. These are edited for length but otherwise replicated in their entirety. It becomes tiresome to read other people's email including To, From, Subject etc., but in some ways provides the only true insight the book offers into the experience.
My personal response to this book is that I just don't feel that Dr. Nielsen is a reliable narrator about her personal or interior life. Whether this is her fault or that of her co-author, I cannot say. I felt that she chose to take a stance as both victim and hero as opposed to just a regular old person in a horrible situation. Her descriptions of her relationships with her estranged children and ex-husband strike me as disproportionately favorable to her as do the descriptions of her childhood, parents etc. It may not be true that she considers herself either a victim or hero, but that is what I felt the "voice" used in the book implied. It feels somehow like she is being less than honest about her internal experience of the events described or rather that her level of honesty and experience has somehow been retarded so that she is having the emotional experiences that someone would normally have much earlier in their life than at 47 years old. When compared to a memoir written by someone like Mary Karr or Jeannette Walls or even Roseanne Barr, there is a noticeable lack of honest reflection and self-awareness that should have been addressed by an editor or the co-author who, one assumes, is a professional writer. There was a great deal of telling in a narrative that should have been laden with insight, feeling and action. This absence is particularly noticeable when reading the emails from Dr. Nielsen's oncologist, Dr. Kathy Miller, which are filled with empathy, decency and passion. They give her a distinct "self" that no other person in the book has including Dr. Nielsen herself.
I can only recommend this book as an introduction to life at the South Pole. I intend to find other, better books to increase my knowledge of that fascinating place and the people who work there.
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