Physician. In 1999, she made headlines by treating her own breast cancer at the South Pole. Raised near Youngstown, Ohio, she was a graduate of Ohio University and the University of Toledo medical school, and was trained in emergency medicine. In November, 1998, she went to Antarctica as the only physician for a group of 41 scientists at the Amundsen-Scott Station. In the spring of 1999, she found a breast lump; rescue was impossible, so, with email guidance, she performed her own biopsy, and gave herself chemotherapy medications obtained via air drop (after training some of the crew to assist her in a process she called "The Marx Brothers do chemotherapy"). Rescued in October, 1999, she had multiple surgeries, and remained in remission until 2005. In 2001, she published "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Story of Survival at the South Pole". The book became a best seller, and was adapted into a television movie in which Dr. FitzGerald was played by Susan Sarandon. Over the past 10 years, she worked as a locum tenens emergency physican, and gave motivational talks to groups the world over. She once said "I'm only five foot three, but nobody has ever thought of me as small".
Physician. In 1999, she made headlines by treating her own breast cancer at the South Pole. Raised near Youngstown, Ohio, she was a graduate of Ohio University and the University of Toledo medical school, and was trained in emergency medicine. In November, 1998, she went to Antarctica as the only physician for a group of 41 scientists at the Amundsen-Scott Station. In the spring of 1999, she found a breast lump; rescue was impossible, so, with email guidance, she performed her own biopsy, and gave herself chemotherapy medications obtained via air drop (after training some of the crew to assist her in a process she called "The Marx Brothers do chemotherapy"). Rescued in October, 1999, she had multiple surgeries, and remained in remission until 2005. In 2001, she published "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Story of Survival at the South Pole". The book became a best seller, and was adapted into a television movie in which Dr. FitzGerald was played by Susan Sarandon. Over the past 10 years, she worked as a locum tenens emergency physican, and gave motivational talks to groups the world over. She once said "I'm only five foot three, but nobody has ever thought of me as small".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Advertisement
See more Nielsen-FitzGerald or Cahill memorials in:
- Find a Grave Nielsen-FitzGerald or Cahill
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
