Giffords to Move to Rehabilitation

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TUCSON — Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a gunshot through her head on Jan. 8, is likely to leave a hospital here on Friday and move to the TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital in Houston to continue her recovery, a spokesman for Ms. Giffords said Wednesday.

In a sign of her significant progress, Katie Maass, a spokeswoman at University Medical Center, said Ms. Giffords, with the help of medical personnel, left her bed Wednesday and stood by the window of her room. She looked out the window, Ms. Maass said, although doctors have cautioned that they do not yet know the extent of her vision.

Ms. Giffords's aides said the timing of the move to Houston might change depending on her health. Her doctors have said repeatedly that she was making remarkable progress, considering the severity of her injury, but that it was impossible to predict how she would recover.

"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, one of the neurosurgeons treating Ms. Giffords at University Medical Center.

The Houston hospital is widely recognized as having one of the top rehabilitation centers in the country and specializes in brain and spinal cord injuries. In 2007, Kevin Everett, a tight end for the Buffalo Bills, went through rehabilitation there to recover from a life-threatening spinal cord injury he sustained during a football game.

Ms. Giffords's husband, Capt. Mark E. Kelly, a naval officer and astronaut who lives in Houston, said in the statement: "I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting. The team of doctors and nurses at U.M.C. 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."

Captain Kelly said the center in Houston had "a national reputation for treating serious penetrating brain injuries, and is also in a community where I have family and a strong support network."

http://www.nytimes.c...&WT.mc_ev=click

[Darnell 8,477]

TIRR does wonders - I wonder who's paying the medical bills, though ? TIRR ain't cheap, ever.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

TIRR does wonders - I wonder who's paying the medical bills, though ? TIRR ain't cheap, ever.

I would imagine her medical insurance she gets as a member of Congress.

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I wonder who's paying the medical bills ...

You, the taxpayer, pay for the insurance premiums.

Pissed?