RIP Joan Rivers

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FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
...rest at last....good for her...I was never a huge fan, but certainly appreciated her being the pioneer she was, and an see her now-tugging on the Big Guy's robes saying "Can we tawk?!"....and I will post a picture of her that I admired before the fright mask got put on...
tumblr_nbe5looGGS1qf7a2yo1_400.jpg
My goodness, she looks like Anni M in this photo... beautiful.
 

Lily Sawyer

B-ReadAndWed
Jun 27, 2009
6,625
15,016
South Carolina
But back to Joan Rivers....
She wasn't my favorite comedian, but she had her moments.
Does anyone remember her spiel about going to the gynecologist, and "the Big Shave"?
That was a pretty funny part of her stand-up.
I am really sad about the way in which she left us and her daughter and grandies.
 

HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
54
Heart of the South
Wow. Doesn't even look like the same woman.
Wow - Melissa looks so much like her in this photo. I wouldn't have guessed she was in her 80s - she was quite vivacious right on up until her death. I like to watch Fashion Police, there are too many commercials, but I like it still. I wonder how that show will be without her.

Death in general - it's what we do. Young and tragic, elderly and serene, painful, graceful, goodbyes are hard always.
 

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
46,336
195,472
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Just north of Duma Key
  • Continue reading the main story
    An ear, nose and throat specialist was present in the clinic operating room where Joan Rivers underwent a procedure last month — and where she went into cardiac arrest — even though the doctor was not authorized to practice medicine in the clinic, people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

    The E.N.T. specialist was brought into the operating room by Ms. Rivers’s gastroenterologist, the medical director of the Manhattan clinic, the people said. The specialist examined Ms. Rivers’s voice box twice, once before and once after the gastroenterologist performed an upper endoscopy, a procedure that used a tiny camera to look down her throat into her digestive system, the people said
    The people briefed declined to be identified, saying they did not want to become involved in potential litigation. They said they did not know the E.N.T. specialist’s name. But one of them said she was not authorized to work at the clinic. Under state and federal regulations, facilities like the clinic must review the credentials and qualifications of physicians and grant them privileges before permitting them to perform procedures.

    The New York State Health Department is investigating Ms. Rivers’s treatment. Neither the gastroenterologist nor the E.N.T. specialist has been accused of wrongdoing.

    At the end of the endoscopy procedure, the medical personnel at the clinic, Yorkville Endoscopy on East 93rd Street, realized that Ms. Rivers’s oxygen level was crashing, one of the people who were briefed on the procedure said.

    It was not clear, this person said, what led to her breathing problems — whether it could have been a complication of the procedures being performed or possibly of the anesthetic she was given, which this person said was Propofol, known for having a small margin of error between sedation and respiratory arrest.

    “In the final phase, they noticed her oxygen dropping quickly,” one of the people briefed said. “They tried to stabilize her.” When their efforts failed, this person said, they called 911.

    Ms. Rivers, 81, a comedian known for her slashing humor and her raspy voice, went to the clinic on Aug. 28 for what was supposed to be a routine procedure. Despite furious efforts to revive her at the clinic, in an ambulance and at Mount Sinai Hospital, she never regained consciousness and died on Sept. 4 after being taken off life support.

    The visit by an E.N.T. was first reported earlier this week in The Daily News, which also reported that the E.N.T. had performed a biopsy of Ms. Rivers’s vocal cords. The clinic has said no biopsy was performed.

    On Thursday night, Marcia Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the clinic, said that because of federal privacy law, the clinic could not give any details of Ms. Rivers’s treatment. In general, the clinic has said that it has three or four board-certified anesthesiologists on duty at any given time, and that only they may administer Propofol or any other anesthetic.

    Ms. Horowitz said an anesthesiologist was at a patient’s bedside throughout a procedure. If a patient’s breathing slows down or stops, “the anesthesiologist immediately assumes control of the airway and assists with a patient’s ventilation,” Ms.Horowitz said
    Ms. Rivers went to the clinic for treatment after complaining of hoarseness and sore throat, friends have said. Her gastroenterologist, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, is its medical director.

    When the E.N.T. arrived, she was identified as an observer, not a doctor. She carried a bag, according to one of the people briefed, and the clinic staff members who saw her entering the operating room assumed that she was a makeup artist there to help make Ms. Rivers look her best after the operation.

    Ms. Rivers wanted to go to the clinic for treatment to avoid the publicity a hospital visit could bring, one of the people briefed said. The E.N.T. was brought in by Dr. Cohen to examine Ms. Rivers’s vocal cords for any abnormalities while Dr. Cohen, a specialist in digestive issues, looked for signs of acid reflux, which can also cause voice problems, one of the people said.

    Yorkville Endoscopy, which opened in February 2013, has a state license to provide outpatient surgery care. Ms. Horowitz said it had the same level of lifesaving devices as any hospital emergency room or operating room and was fully equipped to respond to a cardiopulmonary emergency.