NASHVILLE, TENN. (May 31, 2007) - The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation is proud to announce the confirmation of celebrated author, Dr. Jerri Nielsen, as the featured speaker at the 2007 Women’s Event, an annual luncheon celebrating its fifth anniversary in raising awareness and funds in the fight against breast cancer. Dr. Nielsen’s New York Times bestselling memoir, Ice Bound: A Doctor’s Incredible Story of Survival at the South Pole, details her battle with breast cancer while stranded at the South Pole during the Antarctic winter of 1999.
Dr. Nielsen’s captivating saga began as a year’s sabbatical serving as the only physician among 41 men and women at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where total darkness reigns for six-month spans and the average temperature is minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit. In early March 1999, Dr. Nielsen discovered a lump in her right breast, and after consultations with physicians via email, began performing self-administered biopsies. A high-risk U.S. National Guard emergency cargo drop in early July provided equipment and supplies to help diagnose and treat her condition, and later that month, her cancer diagnosis was confirmed.
Because the South Pole’s severe winters prevent flight between March and October, Dr. Nielsen could not be evacuated immediately. She began self-administering chemotherapy and communicated through video-conferencing with professionals at the Indiana University Cancer Center. After months of Dr. Nielsen’s uncertainty about her prognosis and amazing bravery, a New York Air National Guard mission rescued her on October 15, 1999, and returned home to Ohio for treatment. Dr. Nielsen will share her
harrowing experience with Women’s Event guests on Friday, September 28, at the Cool Springs Embassy Suites.
For more information, please contact The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation at (615) 467-1936.
The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to funding programs that provide the greatest benefit to cancer patients and their families. By supporting new programs in cancer research, education, and patient and family services, we honor the memory of Sarah Cannon, a cancer patient herself, who created the beloved character “Minnie Pearl.”