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99th out of 446 books
—
724 voters
Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole
During the winter of 1999, Dr. Jerri 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 United States, she was forced to perform a biopsy and treat herself with chemotherapy in order to ensure that she could survive until conditions permitted her rescue. She was eventually rescued...more
Paperback, 377 pages
Published
January 16th 2002
by Miramax Books
(first published 2000)
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Though I don't particularly like her writing style, this woman had a pretty incredible experience. She wintered over at the South Pole, and had to diagnose and treat herself for breast cancer. It was a little taxing at times to read through a voice so eager to sound nonchalantly adventurous and poetic. But, despite that it's a book that provides some interesting food for thought.
As of the time covered by this book, 1999, only 1,200 humans had ever lived at the geographic South Pole, the center of Antarctica and the very bottom of the world. Even fewer had "wintered," there, hunkering down to survive from Feb-October when the temps could get to minus 100 and pitch darkness blankets the land and sky. The people who volunteer to take on the assignment -- free-spirits who nonetheless pull together in a jam -- comprise an almost cult-like exclusive band, self-dubbed "Polies....more
3 likes · like · see review
Aug 12, 2008
Brittany
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Nonfiction fans, Medical professionals, Adventure lovers, Travel lovers
Recommended to Brittany by:
My mom
Shelves:
nonfiction
How I Came To Read This Book: My mom owned it.
The Plot: Jerri Nielsen is reeling from a messy divorce and overall estrangement from her family. She takes a doctor's post in Antarctica to escape her life, and is quickly enchanted (but also a tad frightened) by the hearty, jolly, community lifestyle down there. Things take a turn for the worse when Jerri diagnoses herself with serious, potentially fatal, breast cancer - right in the peak of the season when planes cannot fly in or out of the region...more
The Plot: Jerri Nielsen is reeling from a messy divorce and overall estrangement from her family. She takes a doctor's post in Antarctica to escape her life, and is quickly enchanted (but also a tad frightened) by the hearty, jolly, community lifestyle down there. Things take a turn for the worse when Jerri diagnoses herself with serious, potentially fatal, breast cancer - right in the peak of the season when planes cannot fly in or out of the region...more
2 likes · like · see review
This was one of my favorite books ever. I found the most interesting part to be the description of what they do at the South Pole to stay sane and keep themselves amused. How much they look forward to receiving 'freshies' (fresh fruit and veggies) from the next drop-off.....how they form bonds with each other.......how they survive the long dar cold times...how cut-off they are from the world, yet have e-mail access....the story about the Doctor finding the lump doesn't even come about until abo...more
I have read this book multiple time, the most recent in 2010, to honor her legacy as scientist who endeared much and finally lost her own battle to cancer.
The book itself, is well defined by the title. It really is a fascinating read about how Dr. Nielson, with the assistance of medical doctors in the USA, was able to perform a biopsy on her own chest, to see if she indeed had breast cancer. Leading up to Dr. Nielson's incredible survival, she does detail the working life of those dedicated to...more
The book itself, is well defined by the title. It really is a fascinating read about how Dr. Nielson, with the assistance of medical doctors in the USA, was able to perform a biopsy on her own chest, to see if she indeed had breast cancer. Leading up to Dr. Nielson's incredible survival, she does detail the working life of those dedicated to...more
This was interesting. It was a glimpse of something that I just never have thought about before (life at the south pole) as well as a bit about Dr. Nielsen's life and trial of having discovered breast cancer while stranded at the south pole at wintertime. The culture of life at the south pole, especially during the winter months (when there is no option of leaving) seems very cultish and it is described very vividly (and I would say very well, but I really have no basis to judge that by). I can...more
Amazing book! Dr. Nielsen's choice to go to Antarctica to the south pole Scott-Amundsen Station and the insights it brought and the friendships formed. Unhappy with corporate medicine and procedures (she was an ER doctor), she saw an ad for a doctor for the south pole station. She applied and was accepted. She went in 1998 to winterover with the base staff. Since a new station was being constructed nearby, this was about the last winter for residence at this one. There was also a consstruction c...more
erving 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, & 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 c...more
Another interesting look into the lives of adventurers---this time, people who choose to live shut away together in cold and darkness. A special breed. I had mixed reactions to Jerri Nielsen's personal story, the actual focus of the book. A brave and dedicated doctor, she adapted quickly to life at the Pole, devised creative ways to treat patients with limited medical equipment, and eventually (with some help) treated her own aggressive breast cancer. I had a couple of issues with Nielsen's stor...more
I wasn't expecting to be stuck at home for a week due to 2 freak back-to-back snowstorms in Baltimore, so I wasn't prepared with something to read after I finished Age of Wonder. Thankfully bookshelf is stocked with plenty of free books I picked up working at Barnes and Noble many years ago or books cheaply bought at rummage sales that I've never read. This one actually appears to be a library withdrawal. After perusing my shelves for something to read I decided that Ice Bound would be an approp...more
In the continuous stream of NPR that is my life, I just learned that Jerri Nielson died of breast cancer. Dr. Nielson wrote a book I’ve read more than once, and that has now become the final solidification of my vow not to lend out well-loved books.
Her book, Ice Bound a Doctor's Incredible Battle For Survival at the South Pole, co-written with Maryanne Vollers, fit every criteria I have for a great read: engrossing plot (which I remember in more detail than usual, considering I read it years an...more
Good story, but not quite what I was expecting. This book is much more a tale of the intense bonding between people who winter-over at the Pole than it is about her cancer or its medical treatment in an extreme situation.
About a third of the book is made up of email correspondence, which is not a format I feel deserved such a large fraction of the work. My main comment, however, is that there was a lot of personal backstory and talk of relationships (particularly strange considering how much tr...more
About a third of the book is made up of email correspondence, which is not a format I feel deserved such a large fraction of the work. My main comment, however, is that there was a lot of personal backstory and talk of relationships (particularly strange considering how much tr...more
Absolutely intriguing story about a woman hired to be the physician at the research facility at the South Pole. Jerri Nielsen's life was pretty much a mess when she signed up for the South Pole. While she enjoyed her work as an ER doctor, she hated the bureaucracy involved and the way in which the hospital expected her to treat patients as quickly as possible. She had recently found her way out of an emotionally abusive marriage, after which her ex-husband succeeded in cutting odd contact betwee...more
I finished this audio book on this mornings commute. The book was read by the author, Dr. Jerry Nielsen, and I suspect she is a far better doctor than narrator. The story would have been even better had I read the book.
I was completely enthralled with the story of the emergency department physician leaving her comfortable life in the US to serve for one year in Antartica. Jerri gives plenty of facts about how living happens "on the ice" which I found fascinating. Most impressive however was her...more
I was completely enthralled with the story of the emergency department physician leaving her comfortable life in the US to serve for one year in Antartica. Jerri gives plenty of facts about how living happens "on the ice" which I found fascinating. Most impressive however was her...more
I was "assigned" this book for my book club. I certainly was not looking forward to it. I am, however, so glad I read it. I liked that Dr. Nielsen described the life they lead at the South Pole vividly and with emotion. I learned a lot about something (Antarctica - South Pole) which I had very little knowledge. My take away from this book was a message of hope -- hope that when it seems that all is lost, there may still be a future. The bonding which occurred during their time of adversity spoke...more
I've had this book on my shelf FOREVER, and I finally decided to read it because "there was nothing better to read." I was right; there was no better book to read! This is the story of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the doctor of an Antarctic polar station who discovered she had breast cancer AFTER the last plane flew north from the oncoming winter. The prose flowed and is eloquen and descriptive, making for an easy reading. I admire her courage and ability to make and live with hard decisions--leaving an a...more
Dr. Nielsen signed on for a year's hitch in the most remote outpost in Anartica as the physician for the small team which wintered over every year. Inaccessible to the outside world for many months, the team gave Jerri Nielsen the purpose she had never found and became the family she never had. Then, in the midst of this journey of self discovery, Dr. Nielsen diagnosed and treated her own aggressive form of breast cancer. A simply amazing survival story by this simply amazing woman fighting for...more
Impressive account of a Doctor's personal, professional, and medical struggles at the South Pole: starting with the reasons she went there, and ending with the reasons she'd go back in an instant. "Wintering" at the South Pole - unreachable for 9 months out of a year - she is the only doctor, short on medical supplies, and faced with complications over the simplest measures because of the high altitude. Within this dome of home and hell, she discovers that she has cancer, and begins her desperat...more
I remember hearing about this when it was happening so picked up the book at a library book sale. I found it to be very interesting....so many details about what it is like to live at the South Pole. In addition to the Antarctic climate, the pole is at 9,000 ft. elevation, meaning that one has to deal with altitude issues as well as temperatures as low as 100 below zero. There were 41 individuals who wintered over at the pole that year. Dr. Nielsen was the one doctor who was to care for any medi...more
Just started reading this, but it is so interesting so far. I am listening to the audio version (as I work in the kitchen and drive in the car)--It looks like a great book and it is read by Dr. Jerri Nielsen the author of the book. If any of you can get it from the library, the audio is interesting!! It is the true story of the woman doctor who got cancer while at the South Pole and had to operate on herself etc.
OK, JUST FINISHED THIS AND IT WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT WRITTEN F...more
OK, JUST FINISHED THIS AND IT WAS A WONDERFUL BOOK, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT WRITTEN F...more
I'd been wanting to read "Ice Bound" for years, but never got around to it. I found a copy at a used book sale a few months ago, and it moved to my stack of books I'm going to read soon. Unfortunately, Nielsen died in June, nine years after she first discovered her breast cancer.
I really enjoyed learning what it's like to live at the South Pole. It's hard to imagine living in that frigid cold and darkness. What those people go through is incredible and how Nielsen had to treat her own cancer is...more
I really enjoyed learning what it's like to live at the South Pole. It's hard to imagine living in that frigid cold and darkness. What those people go through is incredible and how Nielsen had to treat her own cancer is...more
I really enjoyed this one. Jerri, a 47 year old doctor finds her life somewhat adrift after she ends her marriage. Looking for a new start, and some form of adventure, she joins a team of about 40 people at the South Pole, living in a commune-like dome of relative warmth against the -98 degree (Farenheit) weather outside.
She is the only doctor. Which can be a problem if the doctor gets sick...
audio CD version: this is read by the author. I'm a fan of books being read by the author, but Nielsen o...more
She is the only doctor. Which can be a problem if the doctor gets sick...
audio CD version: this is read by the author. I'm a fan of books being read by the author, but Nielsen o...more
I commuted with this audio-book. After, only, about 5 minutes, I considered returning the CDs to the library. The reading was terrible. The author read in a monotone voice and often stumbled over words. Sometimes, she actually sounded like a computer. Since, my CD changer is in the backseat, it is inconvenient for me to change CD's while I'm driving, so I decided to let the CD continue to play all the way to work. By the time I got to work, I was hooked. The reading didn't improve, but the story...more
I really liked this book. Such a great story of woman, Jerri who survived a horrible marriage, even losing custody of her children to an evil man and decided to re-invent her sad life by becoming a South Pole doctor for one year. During the dark winter which lasts 7 months with no physical contact to the outside world.. she discovers a lump in her breast. She and her new family of co-workers fight to help her preserve her life until a rescue plane can come to her aid. This happens and she lives...more
2 likes · like · see review
Apr 25, 2011
Margie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Margie by:
Robyn
Shelves:
biographies-memoirs,
outdoorsy
Twelve years ago Jerri Nielsen wintered over at Antarctica, discovered a lump in her breast, and had to be airlifted out.
Eleven years ago she published a book about the experience, and signed the copy I have.
Three years ago she died.
Her story is tremendously compelling, and much of it is well-written. The book alternates between narrative and emails between Dr. Nielsen and her family and doctors. The emails show that Dr. Nielsen was a good writer. The narrative parts seem more like the ghostwri...more
Eleven years ago she published a book about the experience, and signed the copy I have.
Three years ago she died.
Her story is tremendously compelling, and much of it is well-written. The book alternates between narrative and emails between Dr. Nielsen and her family and doctors. The emails show that Dr. Nielsen was a good writer. The narrative parts seem more like the ghostwri...more
Maybe 2 1/2 stars. It was okay. It was interesting, but I didn't think it was very well edited and could have been a lot shorter. It took more than half the book before she started talking about her cancer experience, which is what I thought the whole book was supposed to be about. I thought it picked up from there but I still never felt like there was a riveting climax of danger and excitement like I had anticipated with her "daring" rescue. Yeah, I get that it was a risky thing for them to do,...more
Worth the read for the description of a world completely and utterly different from your own. Most of the book does not even deal with Dr. Nielsen's cancer ordeal, but rather with the other difficulties encountered and adjustments necessary for living at the South Pole. At times she sounds a bit like a cult follower, when describing the strong group bonds formed by the 41 members of the overwintering crew; before I could let myself get judgy, though, I had to recall feeling a similar affinity fo...more
The South Pole is beyond frigid. Breast cancer is hell. Breast cancer at the South Pole sounds like a death sentence in a frozen wasteland. Dr. Jerri Nielsen survives and tells her story -- self guided biopsies and all.
While this story is amazing and well worth celebrating, I found myself drawn into the other small aspects of her life. She shared glimpses into a frightening marriage and that her children were taken from her. I wanted to know if she was able to reconnect with her children and if...more
While this story is amazing and well worth celebrating, I found myself drawn into the other small aspects of her life. She shared glimpses into a frightening marriage and that her children were taken from her. I wanted to know if she was able to reconnect with her children and if...more
First, let me say that I'm in love with Antarctica. Even though I hate the cold, I would winterover in a minute. Nielsen is trying to bring balance to her very complicated life when she accepts the job as South Pole Physician. During the course of her stay, she discovers breast cancer and begins treatment.
She describes the landscape beautifully and the character sketches of her fellow polies are wonderful. The first thing I did when I put the book down was do a search on jobs in Antarctica. I m...more
She describes the landscape beautifully and the character sketches of her fellow polies are wonderful. The first thing I did when I put the book down was do a search on jobs in Antarctica. I m...more
I've read this multiple times. In the first half, Jerri describes getting the position of M.D. at the Antarctic station, the logistics in actually travelling to Antarctica, and how the members of the team there live day to day. This is fascinating. In the 2nd half, she discusses how she discovers a lump in her breast, and how it is diagnosed as cancer. She then, with the help of friends/co-workers, has to give herself chemo. A great story of survival and people working together.
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Aug 23, 2009 06:42am