Congresswoman Giffords to Begin Full-Course Rehab

Photo Courtesy - POOL PHOTO by Greg Bryan, Arizona Daily Star (HOUSTON) -- Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann, a Houston rehabilitation center in Houston, for the next phase of her recovery.

“The congresswoman has done very well in her therapy sessions in the ICU,” said Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer of TIRR . “It will be good to have her at TIRR Memorial Hermann where we can devote more time to her rehabilitation and recovery.”

Dr. Francisco is one of the nation’s leading physicians in the field of brain injury and stroke rehabilitation. A frequent lecturer nationally and internationally, he is currently conducting research on the use of botulinum toxin and intrathecal baclofen for the treatment of spasticity, along with the use of robots to facilitate recovery after a stroke or spinal cord injury.

Giffords started rehabilitation in the Memorial Hermann-TMC Neuro-trauma intensive care unit (ICU) on January 21, when she was flown from Arizona to Houston, and then brought by Life Flight helicopter to the hospital’s level one trauma center.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Lands in Houston for Rehab

Photo Courtesy - Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star/Pool Photo(HOUSTON) -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has landed in Houston, where she'll begin the next step of her recovery, focusing on rehabilitation at a renowned brain injury facility at the Texas Medical Center.

Before departing for Houston, Giffords left the Tucson hospital where she had been treated since suffering a gunshot to her head in an attack two weeks ago.

Giffords is being accompanied to Houston by her astronaut husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, her trauma surgeon, Dr. Peter Rhee, and her mother, Gloria Giffords.

In a sign of progress, Giffords was taken outside Thursday for the first time since the attack to give her some sunlight. She stood up Wednesday for the first time with assistance and looked out of a hospital window.

Giffords suffered a gunshot wound to her head Jan. 8 when Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at the Democratic congresswoman's event outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson.

The motive behind the attack that killed six people and wounded 14 might never be understood, Giffords’ husband said. 

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Leaves Tucson Hospital for Rehab in Houston

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- Cheered by crowds of well-wishers, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords left the Tucson hospital Friday where she has been treated since suffering a gunshot to her head in an attack nearly two weeks ago.

Giffords is flying to Houston to begin the next step in her recovery, focusing on rehabilitation at a renowned brain injury facility at the Texas Medical Center.

Giffords is being accompanied to Houston by her astronaut husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, her trauma surgeon, Dr. Peter Rhee, and her mother, Gloria Giffords.

In another sign of progress, Giffords was taken outside Thursday for the first time since the attack to give her some sunlight. She stood up Wednesday for the first time with assistance and looked out of a hospital window.

Giffords suffered a gunshot wound to her head Jan. 8 when Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at the Democratic congresswoman's event outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson.

The motive behind the attack that killed six people and wounded 14 likely might never be understood, Giffords’ husband said.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

'Intensive Rehabilitation' Is Next for Giffords, New Doctor Says

Photo Courtesy - Bill Clark/Roll Call via Getty Images(HOUSTON) -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had had a remarkable recovery from her gunshot wound two weeks ago, but she faces “intensive rehabilitation” in Houston, her new doctor told ABC News Friday.

She has been on a “smooth, glide path” so far, Dr. John Holcomb said, and he hopes to continue that good fortune when she is transferred from Tucson to the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Friday afternoon.

“What we’ll do is make sure that she has taken this transfer okay, has no other complications that have developed that need other operations or interventions and then help coordinate the team that is caring for [her], anticipating problems, intervening early so that those problems don’t develop,” the trauma surgeon said.

Holcomb wants to get her back into rehab as soon as possible, he said.

“The key is get into intensive rehabilitation...Bringing in lots of different people from different specialties to work as a coordinated team, speech, cognitive, physical rehabilitation.  All working together under the direction of a rehab specialist,” he said.

Giffords has avoided major pitfalls including infections and brain swelling.  Holcomb said her recovery “sounds fantastic so far” and hopes that the prediction by Giffords’ husband that she would be walking within two months comes true.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio