At the Pole

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.
-- Omar Bradley

Thursday, January 25, 2001
One year ago: Workplace Shock
Three years ago: Breaking Barriers

I spend a quiet evening at home tonight, and succumbed to the lure of my TV and my loveseat recliner.

Do you remember Dr. Jerri Neilsen? She was the doctor at the South pole who diagnosed her own breast cancer. On Primetime they had an hour interview with her, to promote her book. This was riveting! I think I'd avoiding knowing the details when it was actually happening, for fear of a sad ending. In addition to the Neilsen interview, there was lots of video of the "pole-ies" -- the forty or so folks who volunteer to go live isolated there for eight months.

This was a story with drama, support, love, sacrifice, and heroism. Neilsen and a coworker had to figure out how to peform do-it-yourself biopsies. They practiced sticking the needles into a yam! (Her tumor was already hard, yuck.) Volunteers from the Air National Guard did an unprecedented airdrop of chemo supplies and fresh vegetables. They'd never tried a flyover during that cold part of the year.

There was something mysterious in the story. Dr. Neilsen's children (high school age or older) chose to stay with their dad when her 28-year marriage dissolved (before her pole trip) because they didn't want to leave their school, their home town and so on. There's more about this in the chat transcript. That part was very sad, but was brushed over on TV, understandably.