Evangelist Billy Graham Leaves Hospital

The 88-Year-Old Preacher Returns Home After Treatment For A Digestive Condition

(CBS/AP)  Evangelist Billy Graham was released from a North Carolina hospital Thursday afternoon, 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."

After his release, Graham returned to his nearby Montreat, NC home where 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, after Graham was admitted on Aug. 18. Although he has a history of this condition, they now say the bleeding source was an arteriovenous malformation or AVM, a tangle of small blood vessels in the lining of the colon. Doctors were able to cauterize the spot, Gregory said.

Bleeding from an AVM may be chronic, causing anemia, or it may be rapid, as it was in Mr. Graham's case. Treatment is usually by cauterization. Only rarely is surgery necessary, and it was not needed for Mr. Graham.

Graham, a charismatic Southern Baptist minister known for his crusades that packed stadiums with believers, suffers from Parkinson's disease and age-related macular degeneration. He has been largely confined to his western North Carolina home in recent years. Despite his various ailments, the hospital spokeswoman said that Graham had daily physical therapy and took frequent walks to rebuild his strength, often stopping to talk with hospital staff members and other patients and their families in nearby rooms.

Billy Graham's wife of 64 years, Ruth Bell Graham, died on June 14, 2007.