RALEIGH, N.C. – Evangelist Billy Graham was released from a western North Carolina hospital Thursday, nearly two weeks after he was admitted for intestinal bleeding, officials said.
Doctors identified the source of Graham's bleeding during a colonoscopy last week, said Merrill Gregory, a spokeswoman for Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville. Physicians were able to treat the condition.
"We have been pleased that he has been able to come back from this incident as well as he has," said Dr. Lucian Rice, Graham's personal physician. "He will continue to have therapy at home, and I feel that he can have a very good recovery."
Rice said he expects the 88-year-old evangelist will continue to regain his strength.
Physicians initially thought the bleeding was related to a diverticulum, or small pouches that form in the lower intestine. But they now say the bleeding source was an arteriovenous malformation, a tangle of small blood vessels in the lining of the colon.
Doctors were able to cauterize that spot, Gregory said.
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