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Update: Drs. encouraged by Graham recovery

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Updated Sunday, 5:38 p.m. Eastern. Thr hospital released a statement Sunday afternoon saying: “Billy Graham remains hospitalized at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. Nurses caring for him report this afternoon that he continues to improve in his recovery from pneumonia. He is also progressing in his program of physical therapy as he is now walking more in the private corridor outside his room. Over the weekend, the 93-year-old evangelist was visited by his son, Franklin Graham, and daughters, Gigi Graham and Anne Graham Lotz and her two daughters (all of whom offered him prayer and encouragement.)  This  morning he watched his pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, preach on television as he does at home each Sunday. Doctors are encouraged by Mr. Graham’s significant clinical progress, but have not yet set a date for discharge.”

Updated Saturday, 4:23 p.m. Eastern. The hospital released a statement Saturday saying in part: “Evangelist Billy Graham remains a patient at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC, where he continues his successful recovery from pneumonia. His attending physician, pulmonologist Mark Hellreich, MD, reported this morning that he has maintained the improvements he showed yesterday and will continue his physical therapy routine to sustain and increase his strength and mobility. Mr. Graham is alert and outgoing and friendly with staff. His attending nurses confirmed he has exhibited excellent long-term memory as he has been up sharing stories from his life and public ministry spanning more than six decades. No date has been set for his discharge.”

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) — Evangelist Billy Graham has made “good clinical progress” in combating pneumonia and “looks better,” said Mark Hellreich, the doctor treating him at a North Carolina hospital, in a statement Friday.

Graham, 93, was admitted to Mission Hospital Wednesday with pneumonia, and the hospital said Friday Graham remains “alert and in positive spirits.”

“Physical therapists have had Mr. Graham up and walking around today and he is doing well,” the statement said. “He took his meals sitting in a chair by his bed, while continuing to engage in conversation with hospital staff. Mr. Graham is alert and in positive spirits.”

Graham was hospitalized for pneumonia in May and released after four nights.
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Compiled by Michael Foust, associate editor of Baptist Press.

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