South Pole Doctor And Cancer Survivor Who Treated Herself 10 Years Ago Dies

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Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Palliative Care / Hospice Care;  Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Article Date: 24 Jun 2009 - 10:00 PDT

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A US doctor who diagnosed and treated herself for breast cancer while stationed in the South Pole during the winter of 1999, was then rescued and survived, has died.

Dr Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald, aged 57 and a native of Ohio, died at her home in Southwick, Massachusetts, on Tuesday her husband Thomas FitzGerald told the press.

Nielsen's cancer came back in 2005, this time in her brain, said a CBS3 report.

She came to prominence as a cancer survivor and campaigner after discovering a lump in her breast while stationed at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in the winter of 1999. She was the only doctor attending the 41-person research team on the site.

The weather was too fierce and cold to allow a rescue, so guided by emails and teleconferences with doctors in the US and the help of non-medical staff at the station she carried out her own biopsy.

Nielsen, an emergency room doctor from Cleveland, Ohio, showed a welder how to do a needle biopsy. They practised on a raw chicken, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press a few months ago.

The US Air Force delivered her anti-cancer drugs by parachute in July, and she was rescued by the Air National Guard in October, reported the Associated Press. In the meantime, while treating herself with chemo drugs, Nielsen continued her duties as the only doctor on the station.

Her cancer went into remission and she wrote a best seller about her ordeal titled "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole". The book was made into a TV film.

She also spent the next ten years as a speaker, talking about how cancer had changed her life, and worked as an ER doctor in various hospitals in the northeast US.

In 2006 Nielsen said in an interview with the magazine Psychology Today that her experience at the South Pole helped her to accept things that many people are deeply scared of. She said she came to "feel that they need not be feared" and that it had a lot to do with "peace and surrender than it did with courage".

She told the magazine that being in the South Pole was her great good fortune because it made her think clearly about "what was essential in life".

Nielsen said she did not fear death and that after first learning her cancer was back, for about three weeks she went through terror, but then felt "the most incredible peace" come over her.

"Now I am very happy and excited about going forward with my life. The metastatic disease is now just another part of me, another thing that has happened to me," she said.

Nielsen's story has inspired lots of people around the world, including those supported by Cancer House for Hope, a non-profit organization based in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their executive director, Cheryl Gorski, told CBS3 that:

"She really was an inspiration to all cancer survivors locally, nationally and even around the world."

"It is always sad and always affects everyone to hear when someone lost their battle with cancer and I'm sure our groups this evening and for the rest of this week this is what we'll talk about," she added.

Gorsky said that the one thing people learn from Nielsen's story is "being brave in the face of adversity of cancer or any other battle".

"Just be brave. I think that's one thing we can learn from her," she said.

Nielsen's husband told the media earlier today that "she fought hard and she fought valiantly".

"She had the most resilience I have ever seen in anyone," he added.

As well as her husband, Nielsen is survived by two brothers, three children and both parents.

Sources: CBS3, AP, CNN.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today