Doc: Giffords heard cheers leaving Ariz., smiled
HOUSTON
Her new team of doctors planned to start her therapy for a
bullet wound to the brain immediately. She will be sent to the
center's rehabilitation hospital, TIRR Memorial Hermann, after
several days of evaluation.
Giffords has "great rehabilitation potential," Dr. Gerardo
Francisco, chief medical officer at Memorial Hermann, said Friday.
"She will keep us busy, and we will keep her busy as well."
The first thing is to determine the extent of her injuries and
the impact on her abilities to move and communicate. She hasn't
spoken yet, and it's unknown whether she will suffer permanent
disabilities.
Earlier in the day, the caravan carrying the congresswoman swept
past cheering crowds as she left the hospital in Tucson, Ariz.,
where she dazzled doctors with her recovery from being shot in the
head two weeks ago.
Children sat on their parents' shoulders as the motorcade
passed. Many waved. Others carried signs wishing "Gabby" well.
"She responded very well to that -- smiling and even tearing a
little bit," said Dr. Randall Friese, a surgeon at the University
Medical Center trauma center in Tucson who traveled with Giffords.
"It was very emotional and very special."
A gunman shot Giffords and 18 other people on Jan. 8 as she met
with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people
died. The suspect in the attack, Jared Loughner, 22, is being held
in federal custody.
Since she was hospitalized, Giffords has made progress nearly
every day, with characteristically cautious surgeons calling her
improvement remarkable.
Each new press conference seemingly yields a few more details
about the Giffords that her family knows.
Tracy Culbert, a nurse who accompanied Giffords and the
congresswoman's husband, Houston-based astronaut Mark Kelly, on the
flight, described her as being captivated by a ring on Culbert's
finger. The nurse took it off and Giffords put it on her own hand.
"She was taking it off my hand and I asked if she wanted to see
it," Culbert said.
Asked how she felt about leaving Giffords on Friday to return to
Arizona, Culbert replied, "Do you want me to cry?
"She's a very gentle person," Culbert said, "and her
personality is coming out with her touches, the way she touches us,
the way she looks at us, and I am very lucky to know her."
Then, she added: "I have a lot of hope for her, and I know
she's going to do great."
Doctors said Giffords will stay in the intensive care unit for
now because she has a drain to remove fluid buildup in her brain.
She was going to begin rehab immediately, with a session scheduled
for Friday afternoon.
Because part of her skull was removed during surgery, a helmet
was made to protect her brain. Friese said Giffords' husband asked
them to make another one -- with the Arizona flag on it.
"We immediately got one the next day," Friese said.
Specialists ranging from physical and occupational therapists to
speech therapists and psychologists will give a slew of tests to
see what she can and cannot do.
They'll determine the strength of her legs and her ability to
stand and walk; the strength of her arms, and whether she can brush
her teeth or comb her hair; whether she can safely swallow on her
own; how well she thinks and communicates -- not just her ability to
speak, but also to understand and comprehend.
While she is moving both arms and legs, it's uncertain how much
strength she has on her right side; the bullet passed through the
left side of her brain, which controls the right side of the body.
Giffords, 40, has some weakness or paralysis on her right side,
said Dr. Dong Kim, neurosurgery chief at University of Texas
Health. He said she can move her leg, and may be able to support
herself, but "may not be able to move it when she wants."
During a half-hour exam, she didn't move her right arm, but Kim
said he was told that she could move it.
Giffords will stay at Memorial Hermann until she no longer needs
24-hour medical care -- the average is one to two months. Then she
can get up to five hours a day of physical and other rehab
therapies as an outpatient.
The transfer from Tucson was a major milestone among many that
Giffords has already passed.
Before they left the hospital, Giffords' husband tweeted: "GG
going to next phase of her recover today. Very grateful to the docs
and nurses at UMC, Tucson PD, Sheriffs Dept....Back in Tucson
ASAP!"
For some along the route to the airport, the sight of her
motorcade seemed like a prayer answered.
Bundled into an ambulance, Giffords slipped away from the
hospital, leaving behind the grief and hope embodied in the cards,
candles and carnations at a makeshift memorial on the front lawn.
Marine veteran Al Garcia waited anxiously along the route to the
airport, his Harley Davidson motorcycle at his side. He wanted to
join the back of the caravan to show support for the woman who
visited his neighborhood to ask about residents' concerns.
"It's through all of these prayers that she's leaving in just
two weeks," Garcia said.
"The community has just come together so much -- all walks of
life, no matter what party you belong to," he said. "They've all
come together to show their support for her and the other victims
of this tragedy."
Moments later, he and a few other veterans joined the caravan.