Kelly, Giffords reunite, hold hands for 2 hours

  HOUSTON -- Endeavour commander Mark Kelly and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords reunited Thursday evening after more than two weeks apart and they weren't letting go.

Kelly, who landed Wednesday after a 16-day flight that was Endeavour's final mission, finally got back together the next day with Giffords, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.

The reunited couple held hands for two hours, said Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin.

"It was actually a very touching moment," Karamargin said Thursday evening. "They are smiling ear-to-ear and haven't let go of each other's hands."

Kelly had rushed to Giffords' rehabilitation center after a public celebration that lasted more than an hour for the six-man Endeavour crew's return home to Houston. He caught Giffords still putting on her makeup, Karamargin said.

Giffords, who was shot in the head during a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz. in January, changed from sweats to jeans and a blouse. She had already eaten so it wasn't a dinner date, but that didn't matter.

It had been 18 days since they had last been together, right before Endeavour's May 16 launch. Then Endeavour blasted off, traveling to the International Space Station. Endeavour landed Wednesday and the astronauts returned to Houston's Ellington Field where hundreds of people cheered them on.

It was an emotional curtain call for the next-to-last shuttle flight, with the astronauts signing autographs after each talked about the support from co-workers and family.

While the crew singled out individual workers and departments at Johnson Space Center, they emphasized the sacrifices of their loved ones.

"I want to thank my family -- Gabby who is not here today -- Claudia and Claire who are here in the front row," Kelly said, referring to his wife and daughters. "I could not do it without their support."

Endeavour astronaut Drew Feustel added a special note to his wife, Indira: "Honey, happy anniversary today."

And the astronauts also praised the ship that will no longer be flying. After 19 years and 25 flights, "Endeavour performed as if it was brand new," Kelly said.

"It's not the end of Endeavour either," Kelly said. He said Endeavour will continue to inspire young people to study science and engineering at its new post at a Los Angeles museum.

And future spaceships will learn from the space shuttle fleet, which is retiring after the scheduled July 8 launch of Atlantis, said Endeavour astronaut Roberto Vittori.

Kelly called Giffords almost daily via telephone, and had one video hookup during the mission, Karamargin said.

Giffords left rehab in Houston to be at Endeavour's May launch. Johnson Space Center Director Mike Coats, a former astronaut, praised Kelly for the way he compartmentalizes family and NASA duties, like most astronauts: "He's probably had a bigger challenge than most. He did a terrific job."

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Giffords returns to rehab hospital after surgery

  TUCSON, AZ -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been transferred back to her rehabilitation hospital in Houston.

The 40-year-old Arizona Democrat had been recuperating at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center since last Wednesday's surgery. That was to implant a synthetic replacement for a portion of her skull that was removed Jan. 8 when Giffords was shot through the brain in an assassination attempt in Tucson.

During that same surgery, doctors gave Giffords a permanent shunt to relieve fluid buildup in her brain.

The Arizona Daily Star says Giffords now is back at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital, which is in the same complex as Texas Medical Center.

She's been undergoing intensive therapy at TIRR since late January to recover speech and movement that was affected by her brain injury.

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Doctors: Giffords doing well after surgery

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is said to be doing well after her surgery to replace part of her skull with a plastic implant. Today, her doctors talked about her condition, and continued recovery.

Giffords was shot in early January during a community event in her district in Tuscon, Arizona. It was only weeks later when she was moved to TIRR Memorial Hermann for rehabilitation. Doctors have said her recovery is going well, and this is the next step for her.

Her own skull, which had been preserved, was in pieces and had been contaminated, so doctors opted for the implant. They also placed a shunt, which has permanently been placed under the skin and drains any excess fluid from around her brain into her abdomen.

The congresswoman will be in the hospital until next week, but has continued bedside rehab and will likely head back to TIRR next week.

The doctor would not comment on when she will get to leave rehab, or comment on her future ability to go back to work.

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Rep. Giffords has surgery to repair skull

  HOUSTON -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recuperating from surgery to repair her skull -- another milestone in her recovery from an assassination attempt -- while doctors focus on the upcoming stages of her rehabilitation.

Physicians on Wednesday put a plastic implant in place to fully cover her brain, according to a statement from TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital. The implant replaces a piece of her skull that was removed to relieve swelling after she was shot in the head four months ago in Tucson, Ariz.

Giffords is "recovering well after her surgery today," a hospital statement said.

Her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, who is orbiting Earth on the space shuttle Endeavour, said he kept in touch with his mother-in-law, his identical twin brother Scott, and his wife's chief of staff throughout the surgery, and that he is pleased with how it went.

"She's doing really well. Everything went as planned," Kelly said in a TV interview from space. "Her neurosurgeons are very happy, she's recuperating and she's actually getting back to therapy today. So it went really, really well."

On Thursday, the hospital planned a briefing to give an update on her medical condition and discuss the next steps in her rehabilitation.

Doctors familiar with the procedure and not involved in her care said the implant surgery was fairly routine, will significantly improve her quality of life and help her feel more normal. "It's a very significant milestone in the recovery," said Dr. Robert Friedlander, chair of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The implant -- or bone flap as doctors call it -- will protect the brain and the skull, Friedlander said. It will allow Giffords to freely move about without her helmet, adorned with the Arizona state flag, for the first time since she began therapy in late January.

In addition, it makes therapy easier because the helmet can be uncomfortable and cumbersome, Friedlander said.

Dr. Reid Thompson, chairman of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said there is also an important psychological element to removing the helmet. "They look in the mirror and they don't see someone who's been injured or shot. They look normal," Thompson said.

The flap itself is custom made, manufactured to slip perfectly into place based on a three-dimensional model of the skull built from a CT image, Thompson said. Usually, the implant is made of clear or white plastic, and tightened into place with titanium screws.

Bill Kolter, a spokesman for Biomet, the manufacturer of Giffords' implants, said the material is porous to allow bone to fuse to the edges of the object in the future.

"She'll look like everyone and when walking down the street you wouldn't know." Thompson said.

Even the shunt -- or tube -- placed in Giffords' head to drain excess spinal fluids from her brain will not ruin the image, Friedlander said.

That tube, which is permanent, is generally placed in the front of the head and is no more than a small bulge under the skin, usually hidden by hair. The tube drains the fluid into the abdomen.

"Externally ... once the swelling is gone, her head will be nice and round the way she was beforehand," Friedlander said.

From the start, doctors have marveled not only at Giffords survival, but also at her recovery.

Within weeks of arriving at TIRR Memorial Hospital in late January, Giffords' family and staff reported she could speak a few words, then sing some songs and string together short sentences. By March, she was able to walk with assistance, according to her doctors, and her personality was shining through.

Still, doctors caution that she has a long recovery ahead of her and have repeatedly talked about reaching a new "normal."

On Monday, according to her staff, Giffords said "good stuff, good stuff" while watching her husband rocket into space.

"She was really excited to be at the launch, really enjoyed it a lot," Kelly said.

Wednesday's operation is considered fairly routine, though there is a 1 percent chance of infection or bleeding, Thompson said. Yet doctors say it wasn't necessary to have Kelly on Earth to go ahead with the surgery.

Not only can closing the hole alleviate some of the headaches associated with brain injuries, it helps prevent any future injury, Thompson said.

The surgery itself is only about 90 minutes long. From start to finish, including recovery from anesthesia and pre-operating preparations, the procedure will take no more than three hours, the doctors said.

And once it's over, the real countdown for Giffords' release will begin, they added.

"That may actually be quite soon," Thompson said.

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Giffords set to undergo skull surgery today

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Doctors will replace a piece of Gabrielle Giffords' skull with a plastic implant on Wednesday, another encouraging step in the Arizona congresswoman's recovery from a gunshot to the head more than four months ago.

The surgery -- coming just days after Giffords traveled to Florida to watch her astronaut husband launch into space -- was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with the congresswoman's care. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not officially been released. Doctors removed a piece of Giffords' skull to allow room for brain swelling shortly after a would-be assassin shot her in the head Jan. 8, critically wounding her, killing six people and injuring 12 others at a political event in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz. The three-term Democratic congresswoman has been wearing a helmet adorned with an Arizona state flag. Doctors said when she arrived in Houston in late January they hoped to do the cranial surgery in May. Dr. Richard Riggs, chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said the surgery to place the plastic implant is relatively simple. Recovery is short -- a day or two at the most -- and is mostly from the effects of anesthesia, he said. "This gives her quality of life because she won't have to worry about the helmet and protection when moving around," said Riggs, who is not involved in Giffords' care. The implant is placed under the scalp, allowing hair to grow on top so it is not visible. Riggs said the piece of skull that doctors removed likely was contaminated or shattered by the bullet that pierced the left side of Giffords' brain. That would make the skull unfit to be reattached, which is why doctors would use an implant, Riggs said. Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, declined to comment on whether Giffords would undergo the surgery on Wednesday. Giffords' doctors do not comment on her condition without approval from her family. Giffords returned to Houston and rehab late Monday from Florida, where she watched her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, rocket into space. When Endeavour's five Americans and one Italian got off the ground on Monday, Giffords watched in private from a wheelchair on the roof of the launch control center and remarked, "good stuff, good stuff," according to her staff. That Giffords would watch the shuttle launch seemed improbable a little more than four months ago. And some patients don't have this type of surgery until after they are released from the hospital. Her doctors have said she has made remarkable progress in what will be a long recovery. The next step will be to release her from the hospital. Then she will continue speech, occupational and physical therapy at an outpatient clinic. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Giffords standing on own, trying to improve gait

 FILE- In this March, 2010 photo provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Giffords poses for a photo. (AP Photo/Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, File)

  Doctors say Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can walk a little and is even trying to improve her gait. But the report Sunday in The Arizona Republic adds the congresswoman herself is planning to "walk a mountain."

Giffords uses her left side and has begun making limited use of her right arm and leg, a common effect of a bullet wound on the left side of the brain, said Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer at Houston's TIRR Memorial Hermann who works with Giffords daily.

"Her left side is perfect," said Pia Carusone, her legislative chief of staff. "She can do whatever you can do."

She said that even in her wheelchair Giffords has stringent posture: tall, tight, strong -- like always.

Nurse Kristy Poteet said Giffords pushes a cart up and down the hospital halls as therapy, focusing on using the correct muscles. More therapy comes from games of bowling and indoor golf.

The Republic report -- containing interviews over the past few days with her husband, doctors and others close to her -- gives the latest picture of her recovery 15 weeks after a gunman opened fire in a Tucson parking lot, killing six people and wounding 13 others, including Giffords.

The physicians place her in the top 5 percent of patients recovering from her type of brain injury, the newspaper said.

"She shows a lot more independence right now," Francisco said. "She's her own person."

Those closest to her tell of a woman progressing from severe brain trauma, but their words are without heightened expectations.

And despite the progress, it's still not clear if she will be able to attend Friday's launch of the space shuttle, which will be commanded by her husband Mark Kelly.

Giffords speaks most often in a single word or declarative phrase: "love you," "awesome," those close to her said.

She longs to leave the rehab center, repeating "I miss Tucson." When that day comes, Giffords told Poteet she plans to "walk a mountain."

Dr. Dong Kim, the neurosurgeon who oversees Giffords' care, said most of the physical and speech recovery happens within 12 months.

There were hopeful language signs even in March when Kelly said Giffords learned about the people killed during the Tucson rampage Jan. 8.

Kelly said he was reading a newspaper story about her out loud when she noticed he skipped a paragraph. That paragraph told of the casualties in the Tucson shooting -- news that set Giffords grieving.

"So many people, so many people," Giffords repeated. Poteet said she would find Giffords with heavy looks on her face, repeating "no-no-no-no-no."

For that reason, Kelly said he hasn't told her that the victims included her friends and colleagues Gabe Zimmerman and Judge John Roll, or a 9-year-old girl, and three others, the kind of older constituents she loves to help.

Kelly said he wants her to be able to process the emotions without fighting so hard for the words.

"The challenge is she knows what she wants to say, and she knows everything that's going on around her," Carusone said, but can't always express it.

The Republic reported that Kelly comes in the morning with coffee and the newspaper, heads to work at NASA, and returns to Giffords at night to talk. Sometimes, he takes a nap with his wife in her hospital bed, holding her close.

When he comes into the room, Giffords breaks into an oversized smile, Poteet said, reaching out her good arm to beckon him to her side, give him a half-hug.

Though doctors have not yet approved the trip to Cape Canaveral for the shuttle launch, they said it should be safe.

"We're very comfortable with her traveling," said Kim.

Kelly, who has been to space before, said his job "will be a little bit harder this time, just because I want to look out for her."

He intends to phone Giffords during the mission, but he expects the conversations will be different than on his last flight.

Now, he will ask her "how things are going and how she's doing and what's her day like," he said.

They have a particular phone goodbye, "but that's a secret," he said.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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