Dr Jerri Nielsen

Finding a lump in your breast can be a terrifying experience.

It's even worse if you're stranded at the south pole and couldn't be examined by a doctor or get medical attention for months?

Dr. Jerri Nielsen faced her worst fears on the frozen tundra of Antarctica.

Her story captured the nation's heart and is the subject of a best selling book titled "Icebound".

It has been almost eight years since dr. Nielsen was rescued....so where is she now?

In 1999 dr. Jerri nielsen grabbed the worlds attention....

he-then 46 year old physician found herself stranded at the south pole with a deadly form of cancer......

She had been working in a biosphere when she discovered a lump in her breast.

She was stranded by the weather .. and couldn't get help... She even had to perform her own biopsy...

Finally, an emerency flight was able to get her out.

Nielsen survived her ordeal ....and wrote a best seller about hit.

In 2001, she told us about her prognosis:

'I have a little less than fifty percent chance of being alive in five years. When you get a roadblock it makes you go a different direction you reflect on what you have done and what you have left . It is a great gift"

That was almost seven years ago and look at Jerri Nielsen now.....


She is a sought-after motivational speaker who shares her courageous story with women all over the world.

"Basically it's a inspirational comedy routine that i do. It's not really about cancer. It's about the possibilities in life. Things like cancer make us strong and make us who we are and also give us opportunities to work in the community."

And Dr. Nielsen has also resumed her career as an emergency room doctor.....

"I went back into medicine. I didn't think i ever wanted to practice medicine again but i had to try. It was like visiting an old boyfriend to see if it was really over and it wasn't. I love it medicine and it's great to practice it with a new perspective."

Now her cancer is in remission .. and while she never would have chosen to have it .. the disease has lead her on quite an adventure:

"Ii have traveled all over the world telling this story and meeting people that i otherwise wouldn't have and that just shows you that when strange things happen to you, sometimes it can change your life for the better."

There is other good news to report....

Dr. Nielsen recently married a man she meet twenty years ago in the rainforest.

He found her online....and they were married by elvis in las vegas eariler this year