Doctors encouraged by Giffords’ progress

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and moving both arms, both very encouraging signs of recovery, physicians at University Medical Center in Tucson said Tuesday.

Dr. Peter Rhee, the chief of trauma at the medical center, said Giffords’ left arm was more active than her right. Previously, doctors had said that she was moving only her left arm, which is controlled by the right hemisphere of her brain – the side that was not penetrated by the bullet.

The fact that she was able to move her right arm, which is controlled by the injured hemisphere, suggested that the damage was not as bad as surgeons had initially feared.

The swelling around her eyes had decreased, and although she hadn’t opened them yet, Rhee said he detected “flickering” that indicated she was trying. Most notably, the swelling in her brain had not increased; swelling tends to peak about three days after such an injury.

“She is able to generate her own breaths,” Dr. Michael Lemole, the neurosurgeon who operated on her after the shooting on Saturday morning, said during a news conference. Nonetheless, Giffords’ doctors have left a breathing tube in place in an effort to prevent fluid from entering her lungs, which could cause pneumonia.

The surgical team also has revised its initial assessment of the bullet’s trajectory, which it thought entered from the rear and exited over the left eye. It now looks as if she was shot in the top part of her face and the bullet exited out of the back of her head, Rhee said.

Lemole said Giffords was still following simple commands. The team has backed off on her sedation so that she is alert more, he said, but he would not make any predictions about the rate of her recovery. “She’s going to take her recovery at her own pace, not ours. I’m very encouraged that she has done so well.”

Rhee said she was over the hump in terms of survival. “I think she has a 101 percent chance of surviving. She will not die,” he said. “As far as a vegetative state, I don’t think she will be in a vegetative state at all.”