After two years of intense pain despite previous surgery, Emma "Mini" Gyllenhammar had to start all over again. Now, after a successful hip operation at CMedical, she trains systematically towards one of the world's most extreme goals: a polar expedition to the South Pole.
- I still don't quite believe that it will happen. Something in me doesn't dare believe it until I'm actually standing there, she says.
Emma describes the training as a journey in itself – one she would never have been able to complete without a new operation at CMedical. The training largely consists of pulling car tyres, both on asphalt and gravel, to simulate the weight of the sledge she will be pulling behind her through snow and ice.
- First you start with one car tyre, then you increase to two, three. There is a big difference in the surface, for example, asphalt is much heavier than on gravel. Since I live in the city, I train mostly on asphalt. In addition, I have a slightly different starting point with my hip, which has been operated on, she says.
According to Emma, ​​yoga exercises and a sauna are also high on the priority list to ensure good mobility.
- You must be able to sit bent over in a tent for 70 days. I still have some weakness in my hip, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was. Then it helps a lot with heat treatment and good yoga exercises for the hip, she says.
Kristian Marstrand Warholm is the orthopedist behind the successful operation that gave the hip ball better space and mobility. He is both touched and impressed by the effort Emma has put into the rehabilitation.
- Emma's story shows what modern orthopedics can achieve when surgery, proper follow-up and the patient's own efforts work together. For us at CMedical, it is powerful to see a patient go from barely being able to walk, to training to the South Pole in just over a year, says Warholm.
"If you're not a little scared, you've done something wrong"
There is a lot to think about when embarking on an expedition to the South Pole. Although Kathinka "Muttern" is an experienced polar explorer, there are certain underlying concerns.
- Mum always says that if you're not a little scared, then you've done something wrong. I'm most nervous about how the body copes with it after 30, 40, 50 days, says Emma.
She has gone on long expeditions before, including through the Northwest Passage, but never for 70 consecutive days. Muttern is Norway's first female internationally approved polar guide (IPGA), and has Greenland, Antarctica and the Northwest Passage as her workplaces.
- It's not really the distance or the cold that I'm afraid of. It is the uncertainty of the long-term. What happens when you've been skiing every single day for two months? What does it do to the body? What does it do to the head?
- That the tent is on fire. If you spill petrol and it catches fire, there is little that can save you at the South Pole. The tent is the lifeblood. If you lose it, it's over.
Women's health on tour
In addition to extreme cold and physical strain, female polar explorers have to take into account challenges that are rarely talked about.
- Women are more prone to what are called polar thighs. It begins as small mosquito bites on the thighs and buttocks, and can develop into inflamed wounds that must be evacuated. That's why I wear down shorts and down skirts all the time. I won't get cold there, says Emma.
She also talks about menstruation, which is demanding in an environment where you don't get to wash your hands for many days.
- While men largely wake up the same every day, women go through four different hormonal phases in the course of a month. When we're on tour for over two months, we go through that whole loop twice. It affects energy, pain perception and emotions - everything. But it is not something you can control. You just have to work with it, not against it, says Emma.
For Emma, ​​the journey is not just about training the body for an expedition in the world's toughest climate. It's also about never giving up when life stops.
- Never give up. Don't take a no for a no. There is always a professional who can help you. For me, it was Kristian Warholm who really saw me and believed that I could get better. It did everything, says Emma.