Joan Rivers is still in the hospital and on life support today, after being admitted Thursday morning. The Fashion Police star’s condition has not improved this weekend, despite reports to the contrary. According to AZCentral , Joan remains in serious condition . While some outlets say that Joan is in a “medically induced coma,” others have confirmation that she is on life support. Of course, being on life support is more serious and suggests that Joan is unable to live and breathe without the assistance of machines. A medically induced coma would help keep the patient comfortable and allow the body to heal.
According to Good Morning America , Joan went into cardiac arrest during a medical procedure at a New York area clinic Thursday. It has been reported that the comedian stopped breathing — and that her heart stopped beating — but it’s unknown for how long. Of course brain function and other vital organ activity can be compromised in a situation like this, which seems to be the number one concern here.
Joan Rivers will remain in the hospital for days to come, even if she somehow manages to come to. As this point, it seems fairly obvious that Joan’s daughter Melissa Rivers will have a very serious, heartbreaking decision to make. If her mother does not show any signs of life (by way of brain function), Melissa will likely need to decide whether or not to let her mother go.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Joan was supposedly being woken up , the process said to take a couple of days. However, The Boston Globe reports that Mount Sinai hospital in Manhattan has not given an update on Joan’s status at all. With little information being released by Joan’s rep and her daughter, it’s hard to know what to believe at this point.
The hospital would give a Joan Rivers update only if there were something significant to report. If she is on life support, there are only two things that could happen: Joan could show brain function and be taken off of the machines, or a decision could be made to turn the machines off. When a patient is placed on life support, it doesn’t always mean that they will never wake up, but the failure of one or more vital organs can be fatal. If a patient does not recover the lost function, it becomes impossible for them to live without the assistance of a life support machine.
Thoughts and prayers for Joan Rivers, 81, continue to flood social media today. So many people are trying to stay positive during this crucial time.
It is hard to imagine a world without Joan Rivers, and many aren’t ready to face that maybe-reality.
[Photo courtesy Timothy White/E!]