The situation was certainly dramatic. Nielsen was the only doctor within 600 miles,trapped on the ice in the middle of the polar winter with little in the way of advanced medical supplies.her sole link with the outside world came through E-mailand that worked only when a communication satellite passed over the pole.
Despite nielsen's request that publicity be avoided,her employer a subcontractor to the national science foundation was overwhelmed by media interest in the "south pole docter " Although NSF didn't release her name,reporters quickly filled in the blanks from information that was released.Nielsen's family and friends were soon fielding a barrage of interview requests back in the united ststes. Her ex-husband, with whom she had gone through a bitter divorce, told reporters that nielsen was a bed mother who had abandoned her children and was probably making up the whole thing to get attention.
Meanwhile,at the bottom of the world, Nielsen's odds didn't look particularly good. Under the best of circumstances,women with her type and stage of breast cancer have a 50/50 Chance of survival. And the amundsen- Scott south pole station hardly provided the best of circumstances.