Melissa Rivers’ Decision To Remove Joan From Life Support Showed Courage

Melissa Rivers recently faced the most difficult decision of her life. Knowing that her mother Joan Rivers probably would not survive if removed from life support, Melissa also was aware that postponing the decision would make it more difficult for all who loved the 81-year-old comedienne. And in making that decision, Melissa Rivers took the step that hundreds of families make every year, reported the Huffington Post on Sept. 5.

What’s involved at that stage of life requires emotional courage and strength. Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers were more than mother and daughter. They were best friends, work colleagues and, together, formed one of the wittiest celebrity duos. To make her decision, Melissa Rivers had to evaluate the medical condition of her beloved mother.

What goes into an end-of-life decision such as Melissa Rivers faced? She had to ask the physicians for the truth about Joan Rivers. At 81, did her mother, with whom she had such a deep bond, have the ability to recover the full use of her brain and body? If not, to what extent would she be potentially incapacitated? The answers lie in Joan’s recent medical history.

When Joan Rivers was rushed from what was supposed to be a routine procedure on her vocal chords to Mount Sinai Hospital, she had stopped breathing. That event on Aug. 28 was followed by a week of where she was unconscious, on life support and listed as in critical but stable condition, reported USA Today on Sept. 5. Melissa Rivers was there by her mother’s side throughout the heartbreaking situation.

And thus, after a week, Melissa Rivers made the decision to let her mother go. Her statement about Joan Rivers’ death reflects the young woman’s combination of sorrow and inner knowledge that she had made the right choice.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” Melissa Rivers. “She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.”

Melissa Rivers now is faced with the many decision to be made in arranging the funeral of Joan Rivers, the woman who was her role model, her mentor and her mother. In doing so, she also has to cope with the question of whether to follow up and potentially sue the clinic, as The Inquisitr has reported.

“It is devastating for Joan’s family. She apparently went in for a diagnostic procedure and even if something natural – such as cardiac arrest – happened, why wasn’t she saved?” questioned Dr. Lillian Glass, who previously had treated Joan.

Melissa Rivers’ Decision To Remove Joan From Life Support Showed Courage is an article from: The Inquisitr News