Gabby Giffords Must Be Made Of Titanium
Posted by Phoenix Woman on January 20, 2011
She’s slated to leave intensive care this Friday and start an aggressive course of therapy, less than two weeks after a bullet went through her brain:
Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was able to stand with assistance on Wednesday, an aide said, with her doctor adding that the congresswoman has the strength to stand on her own.
“Today we were getting her out of bed again and we were able to stand with assistance,” said Dr. Peter Rhee, Tucson’s University Medical Center’s trauma chief. “She’s got the strength to stand on her own, lift her head up and these … I see improvements every single day.”
[...]
In addition to standing on Wednesday, Giffords’ doctor said she was put in a chair and was able to look out a window.
“We went to a window and so she could see the mountains of Tucson,” Rhee said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that lifted up her spirits.”
The congresswoman, who will be moved to a rehabilitation center in Texas later this week, had worries about her safety long before she was critically wounded by a gunman at a public event this month, her husband said on Tuesday.
“We’ve discussed it a number of times,” Mark Kelly told KVOA. “She felt that that was a possibility, pretty much exactly what had happened … there have been threats against her and other members of Congress.”
[...]
In an e-mail sent to friends and family members Tuesday and obtained by CNN, Giffords’ mother, Gloria, writes that she will be moved from Tucson’s University Medical Center to rehabilitation facilities in Houston on Friday.
“There is a team of medical specialists involved … including military surgeons who specialize in bullet wounds to the head,” the e-mail says. “They want to start aggressive rehab immediately.”
Giffords’ office confirmed the move and said that while the move is expected to be Friday, “the exact day of the move will depend on the congresswoman’s health.” Her family chose TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital in Houston, part of the Texas Medical Center, because of its reputation, one of her doctors said.
“The congresswoman’s family wants to ensure she receives the best rehabilitative care possible for her type of serious penetrating brain injury,” said Dr. Michael Lemole.
Kelly said that Memorial Hermann’s proximity to Tucson was another factor in the decision.
“I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting,” he said. “The team of doctors and nurses at UMC has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase. Their goal — and our goal — has been to provide Gabby with the best care possible.”
[...]
Gloria Giffords writes that her daughter shows improvement every day “and shows higher levels of comprehension and complex actions.
“Yesterday, when Mark came back from speaking at her aide’s memorial service, she reached up and untied his tie and undid the top button to his shirt,” according to the e-mail.
“Last night, she took his iPod and scrolled through all the pictures. Early this morning she began to read cards made for her by some 4th graders! Her unbandaged eye tracked the lines, she opened the cards and turned them over reading the back. Mark’s gotten pages of large print of Harry Potter’s 1st book for her to hold and read.”
The e-mail also says that Giffords gave her husband “a 20-minute neck and back rub.”
Keep it up, Congresswoman Giffords.
6 Responses to “Gabby Giffords Must Be Made Of Titanium”
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Terry Olson said
Superwoman!
Charles II said
It is truly amazing. The key seems to be that the bullet did not cross between the hemispheres.
But she does not seem to have regained speech, yet (it’s not known because she has a trach), and until she does, it won’t be clear what the full extent of the damage is. For example, we don’t know how much memory she has lost.
I also suspect that the reports we have been given are the most positive.
Phoenix Woman said
Indeed.
Gavin Sullivan said
The rosy reports and forced-sounding congratulations are quite premature–if intended to be taken seriously at all.
Phoenix Woman said
The biggest thing in her favor was the lack of brain swelling in the days after the shooting. They’d removed part of her skull to give her brain room to swell, but it never did, so they were able to put her skull back right away; once that was done, the whole recovery timetable speeded up as various other risks (most of them being connected with having one’s brain exposed to the air) declined or disappeared.
Gavin Sullivan said
Your blogpost above provides no convincing evidence that any minimally-satisfactory recovery is underway–despite our shared hope. Recovery from gunshot wounds to the head has little to do with the ethical qualities of the patient, I suspect.
Whether some variable now is acting ‘in her favor’ is somewhat philosophically fraught–and contingent on a number of factors unknown to us. One possible outcome, speaking about such injuries in a general sense, is drastically reduced cognitive functioning.