Giffords ready to start rehab treatment
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
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IN the latest milestone in Gabrielle Giffords' recovery from a bullet wound to the brain, the congresswoman stood up and looked out of a window. Soon she will move to Houston, where she will undergo extensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
Her swift transition from an intensive care unit to a rehab center is based on the latest research, which shows the sooner rehab starts, the better patients recover.
Her family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman today to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where her husband lives and works as an astronaut.
"I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting," Mark Kelly said. The staff at University Medical Center in Tucson "has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase."
Her progress was evident on Wednesday as she stood on her feet with assistance from medical staff, hospital spokeswoman Janet Stark said.
During rehabilitation she will have to relearn how to think and plan. It is unclear if she is able to speak or how well she can see. She is moving both arms and legs, but it is uncertain how much strength she has on her right side.
A gunman shot Giffords and 18 other people on January 8 as she met people outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people died and the others were wounded. All survivors have been released from the hospital except Giffords.
The suspect in the attack, Jared Loughner, 22, of Tucson, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix on Wednesday, accused of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.
It does not include two murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, and United States District Judge John Roll. Those are potential death penalty charges and prosecutors said they require a more painstaking process. Additional charges are likely.
Loughner is in federal custody. He is set for a preliminary hearing next Monday.
Although Giffords remains in a serious condition, her rate of recovery has impressed her doctors.
Dr John Holcomb, a retired Army colonel and a trauma surgeon at the Houston hospital, praised the care she received in Tucson and said Giffords would "move quickly toward a tailored and comprehensive rehab plan."
Her swift transition from an intensive care unit to a rehab center is based on the latest research, which shows the sooner rehab starts, the better patients recover.
Her family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman today to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where her husband lives and works as an astronaut.
"I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting," Mark Kelly said. The staff at University Medical Center in Tucson "has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase."
Her progress was evident on Wednesday as she stood on her feet with assistance from medical staff, hospital spokeswoman Janet Stark said.
During rehabilitation she will have to relearn how to think and plan. It is unclear if she is able to speak or how well she can see. She is moving both arms and legs, but it is uncertain how much strength she has on her right side.
A gunman shot Giffords and 18 other people on January 8 as she met people outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people died and the others were wounded. All survivors have been released from the hospital except Giffords.
The suspect in the attack, Jared Loughner, 22, of Tucson, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix on Wednesday, accused of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.
It does not include two murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, and United States District Judge John Roll. Those are potential death penalty charges and prosecutors said they require a more painstaking process. Additional charges are likely.
Loughner is in federal custody. He is set for a preliminary hearing next Monday.
Although Giffords remains in a serious condition, her rate of recovery has impressed her doctors.
Dr John Holcomb, a retired Army colonel and a trauma surgeon at the Houston hospital, praised the care she received in Tucson and said Giffords would "move quickly toward a tailored and comprehensive rehab plan."
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