Joan Rivers Archives - Renee Ellory

Last week I wrote about Joan River’s death and that I was concerned things didn’t seem as they appeared. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you’ve seen the discussions in a more detailed light. I found it very odd for Joan at her age to go to care facility outside of a hospital for any procedure that would involve knocking her out. And the fact that she did it raised my eyebrows high as Joan is known as the queen of cosmetic surgery.

To hear the latest news that in the middle of a “supposed” routine endoscopy that her doctor took a biopsy which was considered a no-no by qualified experts in the field because it was outside of a hospital setting strongly hints to me that there was more going on then we’ve been told and may ever be told.

I find it interesting in the earliest reports by people who knew Joan that no one said she went in for a routine endoscopy. No one.

No one would use the word endoscopy which was striking to me!

Even Deborah Norville talked AROUND the word “endoscopy” on 20/20 last week. She couldn’t say it! She said, “a diagnostic procedure … [to] see why her voice had gotten raspy.” It sure would have been a lot easier to say “endoscopy,” wouldn’t it?

I scoured the news reports last week when Joan was in the hospital and all of the people who knew her said she was going in for “throat surgery” or “vocal cord surgery”–which cannot be confused with endoscopy. If they thought she went in for a routine endoscopy, they would have said so.

I suspect they knew beforehand what Joan was doing and I suspect Joan knew what she was going to happen as well.

And now to read news reports that say the doctor “discovered”, took a “surprise”, “unplanned” biopsy…well, I’m not buying it.

A doctor doing an endoscopy would tell Joan that it makes no sense to do an endoscopy outside of the hospital setting because with medical protocol he or she would be unable to take a biopsy should it be needed. That’s only logical, right?

While Joan may not have signed on the dotted line (which could have happened for many reasons), I don’t think this procedure that was “unplanned” was “unknown” to Joan. I suspect she had nodules on her vocal cords as many have suspected, wanted them removed at all costs, and was willing to find whoever could do it for her, and she did. It just sadly cost her her life.

Any other way things simply don’t add up — at least with what we’ve been told so far in the media.

(Sorry about the video and text alignment above. I am unable to fix it. There is a technical glitch that I have been unable to resolve that is causing this).

When I heard the news that Joan Rivers was rushed from a clinic to Mount Sinai Hospital after surgery complications, I knew it wasn’t a good situation. With Joan being 81, complications and recovery are much more difficult.

I was really surprised on many levels that someone of Joan’s financial status would end up in a clinic for any procedure at her age, let alone a “surgery”. At her advanced age, she was considered a high risk patient for complications on many fronts and to do an out-patient procedure away from full hospital support staff raised my eyebrows immediately. I remember watching many experts over the years on TV caution people to get knocked out in a doctor’s office because the level of care could put you at risk.

Ironically, the American Society of Anesthesiologists wrote a paper on Safe Anesthesia in the Office-Based Surgical Setting on September 1, 2014…just days after Joan entered the hospital. They write, “Despite the numerous advantages of performing procedures outside the hospital, the office environment can introduce significant concerns over patient safety and well-being.”

So why would Joan go there? All of this made me wonder what was going on…

According to ABC news, Joan performed a comedy routine for an hour the night before she went into cardiac/respiratory arrest, and according to one attendee, there were “no signs that Rivers had any health issues whatsoever.” She even joked about her demise that night.

Furthermore, we never got clear news as to exactly what Joan Rivers was going in to have done. Was it an endoscopy? After all she was at an endoscopy clinic according to reports. Some news agencies reported “throat surgery”–others reported “vocal cord surgery”. What was Joan going in for when these complications arose? It seems hard to find out, and if the family chose to keep it private, its certainly their right to do so.

So I am left to look at what has been reported. Joan seemed in great health the night before her “surgery”. She ended up at an endoscopy clinic, and endoscopic procedures are not typically considered “surgery”–so she had something else done. There are endoscopic surgeries where they insert a small camera and its considered surgery. Maybe she had that done?

Most people are not aware that outpatient clinics are not required to meet the same standard of care of a hospital or ambulatory surgical center. According to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF):

[As of 2009]…only 23 U.S. states have some regulation for office-based surgery. In addition, a vast majority of offices lack accreditation by one of the major accrediting agencies (AAAHC, AAAASF, JCAHO). Whether such procedures are performed with or without an anesthesia care team provider, current issues include patient and procedure selection, perioperative management, complications, and recovery. Non-patient related issues include proceduralists performing outside their scope of practice, substandard facilities, and lack of qualified office personnel.

So I went to Yorkville Endoscopy to see what they say. They don’t mention the word “surgery” anywhere on their website services page.

Hmmm….

Furthermore, on the front page of their website, there is something interesting. It says, “Yorkville Endoscopy is an Ambulatory Surgical Center, approved by the Department of Health and accredited by……to perform ambulatory procedures to diagnose and evaluate conditions of the upper and lower digestive system.”

Who are they accredited by? It seems to be missing.

MISSING.

See for yourself…

That has me wondering: Did Joan want something done that wasn’t recommended by quality care doctors and so she sought out a clinic that might be willing to do it? We all know Joan had a love of cosmetic surgery…

If so, it could have cost her her life. She could possibly still be with us today had she been at a high quality care facility that was able to properly act when things went south. My heart aches for her surviving family.

So I share this with you in hopes of promoting information that could save you or a loved one’s life. While you may want to go to a clinic down the street for a procedure and it might be cheaper, if you don’t do your homework, it could cost you precious time if things go wrong, and quite possibly it could cost you your life. That’s not to say that you can’t go to a clinic for a procedure, but understand the risks, if you do. Make an educated decision if they are worth it for you.

Maybe Joan did do that and still decided the risk was worth the benefit, though I am not sure she would still say that today, if she was with us.

I hope that is not the case with Joan Rivers…but things aren’t looking good from what we’ve seen so far.

I feel deep sympathy for Joan River’s family and I hope they find peace in all her lovely memories.

Tag Archive for: Joan Rivers

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