Joan rivers in critical condition

[BetterForgotten]

Medical Examiner Reveals Joan Rivers' Cause of Death

[quartermainefan]

So in other words, they killed her.

[DaytimeFan]

This is the result I expected, Joan's number was up, she went under with Propofol (which she didn't need and probably requested) and it lowered her breathing to the point her OT sats bottomed out and her brain was starved for oxygen.

Rest in peace, brave lady.

[alphanguy74]

Wow... isn't Propofol considered general anesthesia? My brother was on it for quite some time (10 days), but he was in FAR more serious condition, and they used it to induce coma! I had no idea that any doctor would even administer propofol for a procedure such as that. For those type of procedures, I always use the combo of Versed and Demerol and it's worked beautifully.

[SFK]

I think it was on The View, not sure, but Joan was asked if she was addicted to cosmetic surgery and she answered no but admitted that she (I won't say was addicted to, but at least) "enjoyed" the anesthesia/pain medication. At the time, I don't know why a big red flag didn't shoot up for me. I wonder if the chance to totally check out from the stress and anxiety she faced, and bonus, check back in looking a little fresher, is what it really was all about. I imagine having tubes stuck down your throat isn't exactly a pleasant experience, let alone for our beloved big mouth. She probably had her anesthesia preferences down to a tee. So frustrating is her death because she made it so far and died so needlessly with at least I'd say 15 years to go...

[DaytimeFan]

Propofol is general anesthesia. I never, ever, would have let her use Propofol for something like an endoscopy, which, if you're tough, you can do without any medication at all. If Joan had been my patient I would have said "Toughen up, here's a Xanax."

It was a needless death. And I agree that Joan likely had 15 or 20 years ahead of her. She could have made it to 100, she was one of those kinds of people...but at the same time, she saw her 80th birthday come and go and she checked out at the height of her relevance, with the entire Western world watching her exit, the cover of every magazine, and not once did she experience an indignity of old age.

[SFK]

So true, very well put. It's still not real to me yet, it's not like she was one of those older celebs we hadn't heard from in a while. Even though they paid tribute, I still expect to flip by The View one morning and hear, "Welcome back our good friend, Joan Rivers!" *applause*

She never got rid of that apartment, did she? I have a feeling Melissa is going to have a splashy Christie's/Sotheby's auction in about a year. I want the sable coat, ha!

[alphanguy74]

Oh yes... Joan had some nice furs. Didn't some PETA freak hit her with paint years ago?

[SFK]

When I first moved to Manhattan in '97/'98, I'd see these posters of a drag queen dressed as Joan wearing a bloody fur coat labeling her a "fur hag". I was watching the news one night and there was Joan in a full-length sable coat being interviewed in the lobby of The Colorado where she used to live, saying it was her right to wear fur and she planned to take action against them using her image. Years prior, she interviewed Sylvester on her FOX show (it's on YouTube) and she asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Sylvester said, "A sable coat", and Joan said, "Oh, me too!" Well, she eventually got one.

Watching A Piece of Work I remember wondering why she was so nervous, she was certainly set for life... right? I guess we never really know, and the way she worked desperately to get rid of that apartment was surely an indication that she wanted to simplify and pocket some cash.

[DaytimeFan]

It's real to me only because a lack of Joan interrupted my life. I watched 'Fashion Police' religiously, saw Joan live in Montreal last year and always paid attention if she was on Howard Stern, The View or one of the late night shows.

She did not sell her penthouse, no, and there's another unit in the building that Melissa had use of...I expect both of those will be listed in the coming year and a Christie's/Sotheby's auction for Joan's effects, particularly her Faberge jewelry, clothes and antique furniture.

[alphanguy74]

I have found out there is much wider use of Propofol in colonoscopies, I wonder why the shift? There are people who had horror stories about Versed, but I suppose in the age of the internet, there are horror stories about virtually everything.

[DaytimeFan]

Joan had said she planned on buying a 2 bedroom unit in the Pierre Hotel (average price $5 million) and a house in the flats of Beverly Hills (average price $5 million) after selling her penthouse. The penthouse was listed between $25 - $35 million, so it would have been an incredible amount of money, less the price of her houses, to pad her bank account.

Joan lived very, very well and supported family members, former staff, current staff, current staff's children in prep school and college, and that costs serious money. I think Joan's definition of 'poor' was a little different than many of us, but I'm sure she did a bit of a dance to keep her finances in the black and growing at all times. I think that was Joan's issue, she never wanted her fortune to deplete, she always wanted it to grow. Her QVC lines were instrumental and I think Joan knew that, despite wanes in popularity for TV and standup work, her QVC business was an incredibly steady earner for her (QVC said at the time of her death $1 billion in sales over the 24 year relationship had accrued).

Her estate is apparently $150 million, far more than most of her contemporaries, so it isn't as if Melissa, who lives a far humbler life, will ever have to be concerned, but Joan was not attached to things and expressly told Melissa to sell anything she wanted to.

[DaytimeFan]

Likely because of Propofol's anti-nausea effect. Patients wake up from Propofol feeling, very usually, clear headed. Versed is an old drug, from the 1970s, and it's tried and true, but it's a benzo and there is always concern about being people becoming addicted.

[DaytimeFan]

And if you'd believe it...PETA released a statement about Joan Rivers which was complimentary about the work she did for them. http://www.peta.org/blog/listen-joan-rivers-vegan-passover-peta-hotline-message/

Joan was unapologetic about fur, one of her great lines was "Those animals have been, in death, places they could never have even hoped to go in life."

A little known fact about Joan: she was a vegetarian.

[SFK]

Huh, I didn't know that. She seemed like the old school type who'd enjoy her steaks bloody with a dry martini every now and then. At any rate, she lived beautifully which seems to be a dying way of life for our moneyed celebs. She and her pal Susan Lucci had this in common. I Googled Joan a few hours ago and learned that she had a country home up in Connecticut. I never knew that. Do you know if she still had that property when she passed? A totally different woman, a comedian to boot, but she savored luxury living like our other favorite Joan, OBE Collins.

Was her daytime show cancelled or did she call it quits? I love dogs and I lost it somewhere along the way but for years I had on tape an episode she did devoted to man's best friend. I remember author Tama Janowitz and her Chinese Cresteds as well as a dog psychic were guests. Joan had her Yorkie, Spike, on her lap and at one point set him down to play with Tama's dogs: "Here Spike: live." A very memorable episode for me was actually a rerun the day Mary Wells died. They reaired Joan's interview with her and her elementary school-aged daughter, Sugar, Mary's voice ravaged by cancer of the larynx and radiation, with special guest Stevie Wonder via satellite serenading her with My Guy.