Sad Nicole Watt news?

[jcspkbfan]

My mom saw a news story about Nicole Watt a few days ago, and sadly, it sounds like Nicole's going through a tough time right now. :( Basically, one of the drugs she used to take for her arthritis was discontinued (because not enough people were taking it) and right now she's on a new treatment requiring her to be hooked up intraveiniously to a machine a few times a week (kind of like dialysis treatment). Obviously, that kind of treatment would greatly affect not only her skating career, but her quality of life as well. :(

Nicole and her family are fighting to get the pharmaceutical company to manufacture her old meds again (the reason why they stopped making that particular drug was purely financial, from the sound of it), but until then, it doesn't sound like she'll be able to get back on the ice anytime soon. :cry:

Did anyone else see this newsclip and/or have any more information on Nicole? I'm hoping her situation isn't as bad as what my mom made it sound (I didn't see this clip myself, so I'm just going by what she told me), but if this is true, I hope Nicole is able to find a new treatment (or get back on her old meds) and have a normal, healthy life, even if she won't be able to return to competitive skating.

[bleu]

a month or two ago, I saw a link for the Canadian University Scholarships award and her name was listed. Right there, I figured that she had quit skating for good. Since then I have not heard anything about her until now. I am sorry to hear that her athritis is getting more and more serious. Poor girl. :(

As much as I would like to think the drug industry in Canada is generous, the companies are in it for money. Nowadays, if a drug is not profitable, it is discontinued and replaced with another one quickly. There is no ifs or buts. It is all about money. The market is really competition and alot is invested in a drug that no one really knows whether it will be the next big thing. Plus the analysts can easily bring down companies if they underperform and the investors are very very picky. I can see why the company is acting that way.

[sillyskates]

No, I didn't hear about that story. Gee, that's rough. I loved Nicole's skating, and she showed so much promise. She just sparkles on the ice, that girl. I hope she can find a successful alternate treatment that will enable her to continue skating. Fingers crossed!!

[Artemis]

Oh, I really feel for Nicole and all the victims of so-called "orphan drugs" -- those reliant on the pharmaceutical industry to keep up production of particular drugs.

It's somewhat bizare, though, that a pharmaceutical company would choose to stop manufacturing a drug. After all, the bulk of the costs for any pharmaceutical product is in the research and development stage; so it seems they wouldn't be losing anything by keeping it going. But I'm sure they've got a spreadsheet somewhere that tells them it's not profitable enough.

I hope that the media will get involved in this story. Nothing like negative press to change the minds of the corporate giants!

[jcspkbfan]

CBC Newsworld just ran a story on Nicole during "Absolutely Canadian" a few minutes ago--I'm not sure whether this was the same piece my mom saw, but sadly, Nicole's situation sounds about as sad as my mom described. :cry:

Basically, the pharmaceutical company stopped making one of Nicole's old arthritis drugs (Arthropan) about a year ago. This drug helped stop her pain spasms and, in fact, one of the reasons for Nicole's poor performance (and why she had to withdraw) from 2003 Canadians was because she had a spasm just before attempting one of the jumps she missed and there was nothing she could take to prevent it. :(

About 5,000 people (can't remember if that's a worldwide figure or just Canadians) took Arthropan before it was discontinued and the pharmaceutical company that made the drug said it wasn't a money issue, but a "quality control" issue.

Nicole's now on a new drug called Remicade, which, as I posted before, she must receive intraveniously in hospital a few times a week. Nicole's interview was conducted while receiving one of her treatments, as a matter of fact. The interview didn't say how long her treatments took, but this one began in the morning and didn't end until sometime in the afternoon.

Nicole didn't say anything about resuming her skating career; right now (understandably), it sounds like her main priority is just trying to stay healthy and return to a normal life again.

There hasn't been much news on Nicole's skating since her withdrawal from 2003 Canadians--and now I guess we know why. :(

Regardless of whether Nicole is able to return to the ice again, I wish her the best of luck and hope her health and her current situation will improve soon!

[lutzskate]

Sometimes, just encouragement from others can help lift your spirits enough to give you the strength to get through the hard times. Does anyone know of a way that we could all send Nicole best wishes and little notes of encouragement? If anyone at all knows of a way to get such a thing to Nicole, we should all rally together and send her a little book of messages. Any ideas anyone????

[jp1andOnly]

Actually, those drugs do not need to be done at the hospital. A nurse can come to your house and do the IV for you. And the IV's usually take a couple of hours. There are other meds out there that she could be taking. Perhaps her form is more agressive than most. I wish her well in whatever she does. She sure was a cutie

[Gail]

Thanks jcspkbfan. I have been wondering about Nicole myself. Having lived with this disease myself since I was 19, I was indeed interested to see how her career progressed, and was certainly wanting her to do well. My best wishes go out to her.

[Skatingsarah]

Wow, I know I wasnt the biggest fan of nicoles skating but no one deserves that for sure. I hope things get better for her! Best wishes!

[skatemom]

If people want to send something maybe you could go on the Saskatchewan Section website, get their office address and send it through them or, to the skating club that she represented. Sorry to hear about her.

[Suzanne]

Oh dear, I feel bad for Nicole! I sure hope she can get the problem under control so she can continue to enjoy this sport she loves so much!

[bunghodog]

I would think if these things are going on it is time to stop skating and take care of yourself, is the problem from skating? I am sorry I have not heard this story before.

[Isabelle]

Originally posted by bunghodog
I would think if these things are going on it is time to stop skating and take care of yourself, is the problem from skating? I am sorry I have not heard this story before.

I agree that she needs to concentrate on her health before even thinking about going back to skating. The problem is not from skating though -- skating actually helped. She has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (not sure if I've spelled that right) and skating (being active) was really good for her joints.

I feel really bad for Nicole, especially since things were looking up so much in 2002 with her arthritis being in remission. :(

[PointBleu]

Movement is very good for RA but landing triple jumps is very hard on healthy joints so it is even more for someone affected by RA.

We're not talking about your preliminary skater here...


I feel lucky I had some contact with Nicole regarding her rhumatoid arthiris and she achieved so much even though battling with this disease. When you think healthy kids are not all capable of doing what she did, it's amazing.

Best healthy wishes to her...

[Isabelle]

Movement is very good for RA but landing triple jumps is very hard on healthy joints

:oops: Good point! ;)