Julia Antipova seriously ill

[cruzceleste]

While I get that even a rich federation like Russian has limited resources, it seem like a very disloyal move to remoeved support in the middle of her recuperation. She still looks so fragil and medical bills in any county are so big... I hope she can get the help that she needs

 

[peg]

Yes I am wondering if some of the posters actually read the article. While I agree 100% this is NOT ideal and DO SINCERELY wish the federation would continue to pay, the Federation is willing to continue to pay if she comes back to Russia, and has already paid twice as much as it agreed to pay. While I agree the problem is serious, bluntly, money is not limitless, and she is lucky to be from a country where a federation would help at all. At a certain point one has to be realistic even when circumstances are tragic.

She has not. She is only receiving treatment for anorexia there. The Russian Fed. sent her there SOLELY for treatment because the treatment she was receiving in Russia was not effective.

While I get that even a rich federation like Russian has limited resources, it seem like a very disloyal move to remoeved support in the middle of her recuperation. She still looks so fragil and medical bills in any county are so big... I hope she can get the help that she needs

I agree with tulosai that the Russian Fed is not obligated to pay for her treatment and in some ways they have already gone above and beyond. The one concern I have is that the treatment in Russia was not effective, which is why she went to Israel. Treatment for and recovery from eating disorders can be tricky, and few places do it well. Many just make the situation worse. So my concern is that her health could go downhill again if she leaves Israel before she's her recovery is secure enough. It's a tough situation for all concerned, and I hope she is able to somehow find a way to get better, whether by getting financial assistance to stay in Israel, or elsewhere.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

you are welcome, sorry if I seemed a bit snippy long day myself

I know the feeling! Just got up and first thing I did was to look over this thread to see if there were any developments. And when I re-read my comment from last night, I couldn't understand at all what I had written in the first half!

I've now edited it so that it does not seem so confused!

Lesson of the day: don't write comments when you're half-asleep just before going to bed.


Getting back on topic, a thing I didn't pick up from the article. Who was it that decided to send Julia to Isreal for treatment? Was it the Federation or her family? If it was the family, I can kinda understand the Federation's decision. But if the Federation sent her there themselves, then it is very cynical for them to just change their minds and pull the plug now.

As I have stressed since this story broke, getting over an eating disorder is a very long and hard process. The Federation should have been aware of this when they started funding the treatment. So, if they were going to pull out when they felt it was getting too expensive, why did they get involved in the first place?

I can't help thinking that there is something else behind it. Has there by any chance been a change in personnel at the Russian Federation? Or a cut in government funding? Or a big investment in something else?

Whatever the case, what started off looking like a good gesture by the Federation has now turned into them looking cruel and inhumane!

All in all, a PR disaster for the Federation

CaroLiza_fan

 

[anyanka]

you are welcome, sorry if I seemed a bit snippy long day myself

No worries, you weren't snippy at all. I can't keep up with the pace of news these days!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

They have a facebook page, I don´t post the link because I think is againts teh GSF rules. But they have pictures dated 1st december. She looks so skinny still...

Just found the Facebook page, and thought that it might helps us understand the situation better to copy the description on here. But, I have removed all the links as a precaution:

It's been already several months since Julia Antipova, Member of the Russian Figure Skating Team, started her fight with anorexia. Her weight at that time was shocking 24 kg! At first, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Moscow, then transferred to Federal Medico-Biological Agency (Moscow) where she spent 21 day. But unfortunately, there wasn't much progress with her treatment so the decision has been made to transfer Julia to one of the medical centers in Israel, specializing on eating disorders.

On 19th of October Julia and her parents arrived in Israel and on 21st of October she was accepted in Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel where she's been treated until today.

For these past 5 weeks there's been an amazing improvement of her physical and mental conditions. She started gaining weight, but most importantly, she started eating by herself! And even though there is no life threat her condition anymore, the work on the disease itself has just started.

The Figure Skating Federation of Russia stated a few times that if the need of financing Julia's treatment abroad arises, Federation will use it's resourses to make sure that all hospital bills are paid.

Federation indeed covered all the expenses, which we are very much grateful for, until recently.

On November 25th, we got an e-mail from the Director General of Figure Skating Federation of Russia Alexander Kogan. It's said that thanks to Schneider Children's Medical Center dedicated staff, Julia managed to get out of critical condition and achieve positive dynamics in the treatment of her illness. According to the information provided by the center, Julia's further stay in a medical facility will be mostly rehabilitative.

It also said that they offer Julia's further recovery in the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) free of charge starting from November 29th. They would also cover all travel costs for Julia and her parents, as well as her stay in Medical Center until November, 29th.

So, as you can see we had only few days to decide whether go back to FMBA or try to fundraise money for Julia's treatment in Israel.

More info in English about our decision to stay in Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel we'll post later, meanwhile it's already available in Russian on our website XXXX and in public group on Vk: part 1 XXXX
part 2 XXXX

But in a nutshell, we can say, and doctors agree with us, that Julia's condition hasn't been stabilized yet and she can go back to her previous weight as quickly as in 5 days.

So the total amount for a complete treatment (61 day) is 138 000$.
But the most important thing to do right now is to make a payment of 20 000$ so the second phase of treatment could be started.​

And that is where I will cut away from the description, as I feel it would be inappropriate to quote the rest as it is not specifically discussing Julia's condition or treatment.

But, here is a photo that was posted to her website on Sunday, and to the Facebook Page yesterday. She still looks very gaunt.

All the best Julia

CaroLiza_fan

 

[peg]

And even though there is no life threat her condition anymore...

A mere five weeks of treatment for someone in her condition isn't nearly enough to ensure there's no threat to her life.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

A mere five weeks of treatment for someone in her condition isn't nearly enough to ensure there's no threat to her life.

Good! Somebody else who is disputing the accuracy of the Facebook Page's description.

When I was reading the description, there were a few things that I was disputing in my head. But, I didn't want to raise it in the same comment (hey, it was already very long with that quotation included), so decided to wait until after my breakfast.

You have already pointed out one, but here is another point in that description that I did not think was accurate:

But in a nutshell, we can say, and doctors agree with us, that Julia's condition hasn't been stabilized yet and she can go back to her previous weight as quickly as in 5 days.

To me, I cannot imagine this being possible in that short a space of time.


Now, I don't know whether these statements are down to a bad translation into English. But, when unrealistic claims like these are being made, it starts alarm bells ringing.

And that is why I did not include any links when quoting the description.

We all want Julia to get better. But I hope this site is not trying to raise our hopes and expectations too high. Because, no matter how much money is thrown at it, a complete recovery is not something that can be achieved quickly.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[LRK]

They might have meant that there is no immediate danger to her life - but I'd imagine that the risk of relapse is another matter.

 

[bsfan]

Hopefully that's the case! Spasibo bsfan, please post a link if you happen to find one?

Can you explain what does Spasibo mean here in your line?

You can search for the FSU thread. there is no password required to view it. Or you can look back current thread for it. It's not hard. Your post indicates that I was making up something.

 

[Icey]

Do federations usually pay for the medical treatments of a skater? I can't recall any cases that one has.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Can you explain what does Spasibo mean here in your line?

You can search for the FSU thread. there is no password required to view it. Or you can look back current thread for it. It's not hard. Your post indicates that I was making up something.

Spasibo means thank you in Russian. It's actually спасибо in Cyrillic but spasibo is just the romanized version of it.

 

[peg]

Good! Somebody else who is disputing the accuracy of the Facebook Page's description.

When I was reading the description, there were a few things that I was disputing in my head. But, I didn't want to raise it in the same comment (hey, it was already very long with that quotation included), so decided to wait until after my breakfast.

I think for me, it just shows a poor understanding of anorexia. The risks do not necessarily disappears once someone gains a few pounds, because there has been an incredible toll on the body. Sometimes people are at greatest risk once they start gaining weight. Also, often all medical tests will come back as normal, but then within 24 hours the body starts to shut down, and death comes quickly.

You have already pointed out one, but here is another point in that description that I did not think was accurate:

To me, I cannot imagine this being possible in that short a space of time.

To me, it suggests that she has only put on a relatively small amount of weight. But sometimes weight loss happens extremely quickly. The point is, she's probably not very stabilized.

 

[humbaba]

I Sometimes people are at greatest risk once they start gaining weight.

Isn't this what happened to Karen Carpenter? She seemed to be getting better and had gained some weight, then suddenly died of heart failure.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I think all we can do is hope and pray for the best. It is indeed a critical time for Julia. A few good wishes and positive thoughts can't hurt anything and can go a long way. <hugs>

 

[Amei]

Isn't this what happened to Karen Carpenter? She seemed to be getting better and had gained some weight, then suddenly died of heart failure.

From the little that I know about eating disorders its similar to smoking, the damage that might've been done to her organs can't be erased.

 

[Maria Victoria]

I think all we can do is hope and pray for the best. It is indeed a critical time Julia. A few good wishes and positive thoughts can't hurt anything and can go a long way. <hugs>

Yes, will be praying she will get through this.

 

[bartlebooth]

From the little that I know about eating disorders its similar to smoking, the damage that might've been done to her organs can't be erased.

Moreover, eating disorders can be likened to drug or alcohol addiction. It takes time to recover, you can't just snap out of it, and unfortunately you remain somewhat "at risk" of relapse.
I hope that Julia will receive as much care as she needs, both at physical and mental level.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I keep my hopes high because I've seen someone firsthand suffer from this. She too was near death. Her health is still affected to this day and she needs to manage a diet and balance exercise appropriately. She just got engaged and is still concerned that even after nearly 5yrs recovered in her ability to have a child. This isn't something that just goes away. At the same time...it's important that she finds positives and strives to make goals into reality. I tear up every time I see this thread. I do believe she can overcome this.

 

[peg]

Isn't this what happened to Karen Carpenter? She seemed to be getting better and had gained some weight, then suddenly died of heart failure.

Yes, and she was one of the people I was thinking of as an example of this. Many organs are weakened with such severe undernourishment, and simply gaining weight can put an extra toll on them. It's one of the reasons that weight gain has to be gradual to be safe.

From the little that I know about eating disorders its similar to smoking, the damage that might've been done to her organs can't be erased.

Just like with smoking, it is possible to overturn much of the damage over time. But it does depend in part on how bad the anorexia was and for how long. Fortunately for Julia, her case seems rather acute (i.e months as opposed to years) and she's young. So it is possible to pretty much make a full recovery both physically and psychologically. It takes a lot of health to compete as an elite figure skater, and Akiko has been quite successful since recovering from her own eating disorder. So I would say if she continues to get better, Julia might not suffer any long-term damage.

Moreover, eating disorders can be likened to drug or alcohol addiction. It takes time to recover, you can't just snap out of it, and unfortunately you remain somewhat "at risk" of relapse.
I hope that Julia will receive as much care as she needs, both at physical and mental level.

Yup, eating disorders are in many ways like an addiction, and some treatment facilities approach them that way. And yes, it does take time to recover - regaining the weight and normalizing eating patterns is just the beginning. But it's also possible to reach a point where one is less at risk not just to an eating disorder but also other addictions/mental health issues than one was before developing the eating disorder in the first place. And I say that as someone who has recovered from an eating disorder myself. It's possible to get to a place where you don't think about weight or food or calories or exercising to compensate for eating, etc, a point where you can just eat nourishing food when you're hungry and enjoy treats to a healthy degree without guilt. However, reaching that point does take a lot of time and a lot of work.

Julia is in a tough place right now, but if she can continue to get the right treatment, I would be hopeful that she can recover.

 

[sirota]

Russian Federation promised to pay... This is a reason why Julia family didn't try to find others options to collect money.