Not looking good for Joan Rivers

[BigTex]

NY Daily News:

Joan Rivers was on life-support Saturday as her daughter, family and friends kept an increasingly grim vigil at a Manhattan hospital.

The 81-year-old Rivers, initially placed in a medically induced coma after going into cardiac and respiratory arrest on Thursday, was dependent on the machines to keep her alive, TMZ.com reported.

Sources told the Daily News that Rivers’ daughter, Melissa, is “in denial” over her mother’s condition.

“She still thinks everything is going to be OK. She is refusing to admit that a world might exist without her mother in it,” said a source close to the Rivers family.

“Others that are close to Joan are starting to realize that the outcome they want is very unlikely.”

No decision on the acerbic comedienne’s future will be made for a few days, TMZ.com reported. Neither Melissa Rivers nor the hospital had any comment Saturday on the Emmy-winning Rivers’ condition.

Sources have told The News that Rivers would not want to live unless she could enjoy “a full and active life....(She) would never want to be a burden on anyone.”

Rivers’ grandson, Cooper, 13, and her daughter’s ex-husband, John Endicott, were spotted leaving the hospital Saturday morning in a Lincoln SUV and returning to Melissa Rivers’ East Side apartment.

Rivers was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital after she stopped breathing during an otherwise routine doctor’s visit for a throat procedure.

It was unclear how long Rivers was without oxygen. Doctors placed her in a coma within hours as they attempted to assess the damage, and her daughter was expected to discuss treatment options with the medical staff.

But it appeared the talk show host/jewelry saleswoman/fashion critic’s condition took a turn for the worse at some point, leading to the decision to place her on life-support.

Melissa Rivers flew cross-country Thursday after her mother’s medical emergency, arriving at the hospital that evening.

While thanking fans for their support and prayers, she has said little about her mother’s condition.

For the first time since Rivers fell ill, her daughter made no public comments Saturday.

“As independent as she likes to think she is, Joan is the center of Melissa’s life,” the source said.

“They even live in the same building in (New York) and work together on ‘Fashion Police’ ... It’s all heartbreaking.”

The Brooklyn-born Rivers became a Hollywood mainstay after her 1965 breakout on “The Tonight Show.”

[Chlorine Tinsley]

My Dad was on life support for three weeks after a stroke. He lived another 9 years. Sometimes, they put patients on life support just to make breathing easier (to improve chances of recovery), and not necessarily because they can't breath on their own. As my Dad improved, they had to wean him off of it at a specialty hospital.

[crocmommy]

My Dad was on life support for three weeks after a stroke. He lived another 9 years. Sometimes, they put patients on life support just to make breathing easier (to improve chances of recovery), and not necessarily because they can't breath on their own. As my Dad improved, they had to wean him off of it at a specialty hospital.

How much of a recovery did your dad have? Hopefully if Joan makes it through, she'll be able to regain most of what she had.

[Houston]

while I wish her well, at 81 she has had a full and successful life.
but we just do not want to see our relatives and friends pass on.

[marti]

For the daughter's sake, I hope Joan comes around enough so they can say farewells.

[BillB]

I read this morning that the daughter is already talking major lawsuit against the clinic that performed the procedure.

[GFB]

Oh, brother..people can be so lame.

[Chlorine Tinsley]

My Dad was on life support for three weeks after a stroke. He lived another 9 years. Sometimes, they put patients on life support just to make breathing easier (to improve chances of recovery), and not necessarily because they can't breath on their own. As my Dad improved, they had to wean him off of it at a specialty hospital.

How much of a recovery did your dad have? Hopefully if Joan makes it through, she'll be able to regain most of what she had.

His speech & right side were affected. It took a lot of learning "work arounds", but he was able to enjoy the grand kids, holidays, sports, etc. His mind was good. He could form words in his mind, but the signal would get scrambled by the time it reached his vocal chords. One "work around" was we tried to limit questions to ones he could answer with one word.