Evangelist Billy Graham was discharged from the hospital on Thursday after being treated for intestinal bleeding.
Dr. Lucian Rice, MD and Mr. Graham's personal physician said that physicians treating him were 'pleased' with the treatment and he hoped Mr. Graham could make a good recovery.
"We have been pleased that he has been able to come back from this incident as well as he has," Dr. Rice said. "He will continue to have therapy at home, and I feel that he can have a very good recovery."
During his hospital stay, Mr. Graham had daily physical therapy and took frequent walks to rebuild his strength. He often stopped to talk with hospital staff members and other patients and their families in nearby rooms.
"I am grateful for the wonderful care that I have received at Mission Hospitals," Mr. Graham told his staff upon discharge. "I have been a patient at many hospitals and I have never had better care anywhere in the world. I am amazed at the staff's efficiency and compassion. I actually don't want to leave. But as I do, I want to also express my appreciation for the support and prayers of so many people for me during this time."
Mr. Graham has recently been described by the Time magazine publication as a Pastor-in-Chief who gave a humbling response in his encounter with 11 U.S. Presidents, saying that he loved all of them and could not know all the burdens they were carrying.
"Their personal lives--some of them--were difficult," he told us. "But I loved them all. I admired them all. I knew that they had burdens beyond anything I could ever know or understand," Mr. Graham said.
Mr. Graham, who is 88, lost his wife of 64 years, Ruth Bell Graham, on June 14, 2007.