Fashion

[Luma2]

Are you people all the wives or mothers of doctors? It seems clear that if she had not had this endoscopy, she would have been doing her show Friday night, as planned.

If this procedure was not appropriate or safe for her, the doctor should have told her that. Joan was not a doctor.

Anyone would put up with the discomfort of a raspy voice, if told the procedure was life-threatening.

[BellaPaprika]

Why do people here insist on over reacting to every post? The OP expressed her pain and sorrow and in her present state she said something about the clinic where JR had her procedure. Many people who are upset over a death will lash out at whatever facility or doctor was involved. It's normal. Death makes us angry. Why jump all over the OP with all the preaching and instructions to withhold judgement? It's not as if any of our opinions, one way or the other, are going to affect this situation at all.

As for JR having "heart issues" (according to Perkup) I've never heard or read of that and the NY papers are saying if she did no one outside her family knew of it. She had a UK tour booked for next month with a show every night in a different city for 15 nights! Whatever "issue" she had wasn't anything that slowed her down and I disagree with Perkup - there wasn't any performer of any age today who was more full of life. The procedure she was having has a known risk (small but a risk) of causing respiratory arrest leading to cardiac arrest. They list all the risks when you sign the permission form. If there turns out to have not been malpractice or a heart attack, then she simply succumbed to a complication of the procedure. I wish more people would think twice and think again before having elective procedures and surgeries. Doctors have a confident way about them that lulls us all into a false sense of security. Any time you are sedated or go under anesthesia you are risking never waking up.

[Jerry Lee]

On 9/4/2014 blossompie said: Look we all know there is risk with surgery, we get that! BUT some of adored Joan and yes we know she was 81 but the woman was full of life and I feel joan had many more years left in her had it not been for that clinic. Something went wrong somewhere I don't care what anyone says and I never heard of Joan having a heart condition. Joan may have been 81 but she was in no way a typical 81 yr old she had the energy of a forty year old and I'm heartbroken. I cried that's how much her passing has affected me and I wish people would stop saying Oh well she knew the risks or she was 81. Loss is loss and Joan is a major loss!

Exactly....so many of us just adored her and are in a state of shock over the sheer tragedy of it all and, I stand by my previous comments because she walked into that clinic <em>(that has only been around one year) a healthy, vibrant woman in the morning</em> and wound up dead which does seem suspicious and if she was my Mother I wouldn't rest until I found out what happened.

I loved her and will miss her, her style, her voice and her huge personality for a very long time.

[BellaPaprika]

On 9/4/2014 Jerry Lee said:

On 9/4/2014 The Bird said:

Jerry Lee, I wish we could cry together. - Bird

Thanks Bird, me too....

Jerry Lee, I'm right there with you and I have the same questions regarding the clinic. I kept tearing up all afternoon and evening every time I thought of her and especially watching the tributes on E!

[Tyak]

On 9/4/2014 Luma2 said:

Are you people all the wives or mothers of doctors? It seems clear that if she had not had this endoscopy, she would have been doing her show Friday night, as planned.

If this procedure was not appropriate or safe for her, the doctor should have told her that. Joan was not a doctor.

Anyone would put up with the discomfort of a raspy voice, if told the procedure was life-threatening.

In hindsight, her doctor is likely wishing that with her age being 81, he had recommended that the procedure be done in a hospital, not a free standing clinic.

[funwun]

Anger is stage 2 of mourning...obviously the OP is very upset and under the circumstances is reacting mournfully. I understand and agree with many of the opinions above...yes, we should not judge or blame without the proper factual information regarding Joan's death. With that being said, I think it's insensitive to react critically to an obviously distraught OP. Just my opinion of course. Let's all pray for Joan and her family instead.....so incredibly sad!!!!

[elated]

They had a Dr on Megyn Kelly tonite and he said maybe it was the anesthesia--too much propofol. He said due to her age this should have been done in the hospital. No one knows how long her heart had stopped before she got help. They say it takes 4 to 6 minutes before brain damage occurs. I just wish that more precautions had been taken. I realize that she was 81 but she seemed so full of life. I will greatly miss her.

[BeckiWV]

Sometimes things just happen. It's very sad and hard to fathom, whatever the cause. She was just so vibrant.

Losing Joan Rivers, Robin Williams and Harold Ramis in the same year leaves the world a lot less funny.

[blossompie]

@JERRY Lee I feel your pain and I totally get what you are saying. Im so mad at that clinic and that doctor. I can't imagine a world without that warm funny lady who said what we all were thinking,how she would make the hosts bust out in laughter while selling clothes jewelry etc. And learning how generous she was and u like so many other celebrities who give to charity as part of their own publicity but Joan did it from the heart without the fan fare. I'm still crying. She brought so much fun and joy to everything she did. Hats off to Jerry Lee for saying what most of Joan's fans are feeling tonite!

[lizzief]

As upset as I am about Joan's passing, I am not going to get into the "blame game." I wouldn't be at all surprised if she simply had a heart attack during the procedure, which could have happened anytime, anywhere. I've had many people in my life, a lot younger than Joan, have heart attacks in and out of hospitals that they simply could not recover from. I think we should all count our blessings that we had Joan in our lives, cherish those memories, hug those close to us, and end the "what if" speculation that serves no purpose.