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Joan Rivers is expected to emerge from her coma today, as doctors began the process of waking the 81-year old from this medically-induced state on Sunday.

The comedian was rushed to Mount Sinai in New York City after she stopped breathing during a throat procedure on Thursday, August 28.

She was initially listed in serious condition, as daughter Melissa Rivers provided an update for fans, and then placed on life support over the weekend.

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“She’s a strong woman, people aren’t giving up hope, but it’s very serious right now,” an insider tells Us Weekly, while Melissa’s latest statement said the family is keeping its “fingers crossed” for a miracle.

 

"The waking-up process has begun and will take until Tuesday," a source says to The New York Daily News. "There is real concern that the part of the brain that controls motor skills may have been compromised, leaving her as either a vegetable or in a wheelchair."

This possibility has the family considering a lawsuit over the botched procedure that caused Rivers to collapse.

"Shock and upset is turning to anger, and they are looking for someone to blame,” a person in the know tells the newspaper.

Any legal action would be filed against Yorkville Endoscopy, where Rivers had what was meant to be a routine throat procedure on Thursday.

"You know how polarizing she could be, but people don’t realize what a fantastic lady she is, the charities that she supports, without fanfare, without people knowing,” says writer and friend Jay Redack, who had dinner with Rivers the night before her throat surgery.

“She is a great person."