Giffords' husband 'extremely hopeful' for full recovery

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC

'She is a fighter like nobody else that I know,' Kelly says

TUCSON, Ariz. — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband says he is "extremely hopeful" that the congresswoman will make a full recovery in a matter of months.

Giffords, hospitalized after a gunshot to the head in a shocking Jan. 8 shooting spree outside a Tucson supermarket, has "made a remarkable recovery,' her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly said at a new conference.

"She is a fighter like nobody else that I know," Kelly said.

Doctors at University Medical Center in Tucson, where she has received treatment since the attack, plan to move her to a rehabilitation facility in Houston on Friday, he said.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41175345/ns/us_news-life/

[lark]

1. K&R

Nice to hear good news about this valiant young woman.

[gateley]

2. The reports on her progress thus far have been amazing. nt

[Imagevision]

3. I too am extremely hopeful for Gabrielle Giffords recovery...

[Kingofalldems]

4. Great news!

K and R

[1776Forever]

5. Giffords' husband confident she will be back to work soon

Source: abc 15.com

Giffords' husband confident she will be back to work soon
Posted: 1/20/2011 10:27 AM
Last Updated: 1 hour and 9 minutes ago
By: Erisa Nakano

TUCSON, AZ - The husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says he’s confident Giffords will make a full recovery in the coming months.

It has been nearly two weeks since Giffords and 18 others were injured in a shooting on Jan. 8 in Tucson.

During a 10 a.m. news conference Thursday, Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly said he’s confident Giffords will be able to go back to work in the next couple months...

Giffords' family hopes to move her to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital, a rehabilitation center in Houston, on Friday where Kelly lives and works as an astronaut.





Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_central_southern_az/tucson/giffords%27-husband-confident-she-will-be-back-to-work-soon

---

Great news!

[closeupready]

6. This is the one thing I've been wondering about -

Is it possible that she will make a full recovery? I mean, the bullet penetrated her skull, didn't it? What does that mean in terms of her cognitive functioning, or can people recover from that kind of injury fully?

[1776Forever]

7. Here's a good article on that......"injuries is so individual"

Local experts speak on Giffords
By Abby Spegman
Sentinel Staff
Published: Thursday, January 20, 2011

http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2011/01/20/news/local/free/id_425124.txt

...“The main message is that every one of these injuries is so individual,” said Dr. Rocco A. Chiappini, medical director at Greenfield’s Crotched Mountain Specialty Hospital, which specializes in treating patients with brain or spinal cord injuries.

The hospital is part of the larger Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, which includes outpatient care and residential treatment for adolescents with disabilities.

In general, Giffords seems to be recovering well, Chiappini said.

“When you see someone this quickly do this well ... you have reason to be optimistic,” he said, noting in cases like this full recoveries are possible.

(more at link)

[closeupready]

8. Excellent. Thank you.

:hi:

[1776Forever]

9. YVW - I was thinking the same thing. n/t

[gateley]

13. "...noting in cases like this full recoveries are possible. " Excellent! Thanks! nt

[WingDinger]

10. Strange, he also said he wanted her to retire immed.

[gateley]

14. I don't blame him. nt

[Kingofalldems]

11. I understand the filthy teabaggers are tryin to get her to quit

[Lautremont]

12. I wonder if she'll have a Swedish accent,

or think her husband is a hat, or some other strange Oliver Sacks-ish quirk as a result of her injury. Anyway, amazing and great to see this level of recovery.

[gateley]

15. They were saying she was able to stand on her own and look at the

mountain, and Mark was saying she was doing things that she'd often done before -- like patting him on the cheek.

So if he's correct that she recognizes him, and she can stand and walk with assistance, those are two areas that are promising. They mentioned she can't speak because of the tube in her trachea, so it will be amazing to learn how her speech is after it is removed. Even if she's speaking w/a Swedish accent!. :7

[jwirr]

16. AZ has the law that if she cannot work a certain time she can lose her

job. We have had congress persons brought onto the floor in wheelchairs. If that law should threaten her job she should come to DC and spend one hour on the floor. She would have fulfilled the in attendance rule and ensured another period to go back to rehabilitation. I am hoping that AZ will ignore that law.

[eomer]

17. Apparently that law doesn't apply to her.

It only applies to state, not federal, officeholders.

I believe it is up to the House itself to decide issues of its own membership like this one.

[jwirr]

18. Thank you. I am glad to hear that.

[Bigmack]

19. I was where he is a few years ago....

Having someone you love sustain a brain injury is not an emotional roller-coaster ride... it's an emotional Bungee-jump! The highs and lows are SO exaggerated.

He wants SO badly to see his wife whole again. What he says is not necessarily what's really happening.

I don't pray, but every ounce of positive energy I have is directed toward Rep. Giffords and her husband.