Giffords leaves hospital

LOS ANGELES – Five months after she was shot in the head while greeting constituents, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was released Wednesday from the Houston hospital where she has been undergoing physical therapy.

The Arizona congresswoman will travel from a Houston suburb to the hospital each weekday for physical therapy, officials said.

“Congresswoman Giffords has shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at TIRR (Memorial Hermann Hospital) five months ago,” Dr. Gerald Francisco, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. “We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment.”

Giffords, 41, will move into the home of her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, in League City, where she will receive care from a 24-hour home health provider. Francisco will continue to oversee her rehabilitation.

An expert who is not involved in Giffords’ care hailed the step as progress. “This is really great news, especially because it indicates she doesn’t need 24-hour medical oversight or the structure that the inpatient unit provides in terms of routine, medication and medical interventions,” said Dr. Richard Riggs, chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

The move is “a natural stepping stone that will help her regain quality of life, especially after being hospitalized for six months,” Riggs added.

But he cautioned that the transition to home is often filled with “unexpected, uncontrollable stimulation” that might interfere with her recovery – people visiting, phone calls, television, the intrusion of the media and “simply, life. That can be somewhat tiring for patients.”

“In general, for this type of recovery, it is rare when they are finished with rehab before a year or a year and a half,” he said.