It was originally reported that Joan Rivers was going in to Yorkville Endoscopy for an endoscopy because her voice was being effected by something.
She went in for the procedure on August 28th, 2014 and never regained consciousness. Joan Rivers was 81. Many good doctors won’t do these kinds of procedures on someone over 80 outside of a hospital. At this advanced something things go goes wrong and out patient facilities are not equipped to handle these types of life and death complications.
While no one but her doctors know exactly what happened lets focus on what she could have been done if she already knew she had Acid Reflux. The first obvious thing is, the procedure should have been done in an accredited Endoscopy suite “within” a hospital.
The second thing is treated her Acid Reflux by fully educating herself to lifestyle changes. Unfortunately knowing what is good and not good for you isn’t enough. You need to be disciplined to act on the knowledge.
Let’s discuss some of them. Eating small meals, staying away from foods that relax the sphincter valve that is supposed to stay closed unless food is coming down from the esophagus into the stomach. The problem is these things are easy to learn hard to do, except for one. Using a mattress wedge or bed wedge, which is basically a one shot deal you install it and go to sleep on your bed as usual.
A Mattress wedge is a wedge that lifts up the entire sleeping surface. The mattress lifts up you body to a medically prescribed angle for Acid Reflux, GERD, and heartburn that helps keep stomach content from coming up at night, which can cause pain and damage. This kind of damage is to have effected Joan Rivers causing her to need the procedure, the procedure that eventually ended her life.
A Bed wedge is a simple wedge that goes on the bed that also lifts up the body to a medically prescribed angle.
The pros and cons of the mattress wedge and bed wedge.
Bed wedge:
1. Since it is a small wedge you can easily roll off of it.
2. Since you sleep directly on it it needs to be laundered frequently.
3. Since you directly sleep on it and on the same spot it needs to be changed periodically.
A Mattress Wedge such as the Reflux Guard©:
1. Since it raises the entire sleeping area the user sleeps on their mattress and lasts for a long time. Reflux Guard© gives a 10-year Warrantee, which makes it a one-time purchase.
2. Since the user sleeps on their mattress they have the full comfort of their carefully chosen mattress.
Ultimately had Joan Rivers slept using a Reflux Guard maybe this procedure would have been avoided.
