Tucson Shooting Hospital Update: Doctor Optimistic On Gabrielle Giffords Recovery (VIDEO)

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is alive and doctors are optimistic about her recovery, the hospital said in an update this afternoon.

University Medical Center's Dr. Peter Rhee says that the facility received 10 patients in all. One died (a 9-year-old child) and the others are in critical condition, including Giffords, who was shot at a public event in Tucson outside a grocery store.

On Giffords specifically, Rhee said, "The neurosurgeons just finished operating on her and at the current time, I am very optimistic about recovery."

Rhee told the Arizona Republic that Giffords was shot in the head, "through and through," and the bullet passed through her brain.

Dr. Manny Alvarez tells Fox News that Giffords is in for a "long fight," and though survival from a gunshot wound to the head is rare, it is not unprecedented. About 5 percent will survive and it depends where exactly the shot took place.

WATCH:

Comments

[Mickey Carroll]

03:57 PM on 01/18/2011

Music Commentary

The whole world has got to come together and learn to communicate children are the one thing we have in-common hurry up before it's to late

( It Takes A Village To Raise A Child )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYJhBoV5YU

( Song For My Son )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gey8AAlMHDs

Pick Up the Trash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXON0MosJR8

God Bless Christina Taylor and Family
Mickey

[iota]

03:58 PM on 01/11/2011

I hope at some point the issue of under treatment of the mentally ill and the criminalization of the mentally ill will be the main focus of the Tucson tragedy. I worked in the forensic mental health department for 27 years and saw the increasing trend of patients becoming violent and committing crimes because their family cannot get them help in the community or get them into a facility. Many will not take their medication because it is a disease of the brain, so therefore they lack insight into the fact they are ill. I am guessing Jared's family did try to get him help. Also the fact that Jared could get a gun when he had a reported history of mental illness is outrageous.

[Freedom Rush]

09:27 PM on 01/10/2011

Forgive the stupid question, but who will take Giffords place while she recovers? I'm praying she makes a spectacular recovery, but the governments business must go on.

[RTIII]

11:33 PM on 01/09/2011

Of course, we'd like more data on her condition and the nature of her injuries.

The brain is an odd thing; a single nuron lost can cause horrific, even fatal results, while in other cases, seemingly large scale damage can result in relatively minor impairment and it can heal pretty well.

In recent times we have learned that nurons can in fact be born in adult brains - formerly it was thougth neurogenisis didn't happen in adults - and we now also know that the brain can re-train motor and sensory functions. The biggest concern here is whether she loses/lost what we might call "cognitive function"; her ability to reason and articulate - language, math, etc.

It's also the case that the material that makes up the brain is pretty soft and can push aside instead of being ripped away. If she is lucky, the bullet mostly pushed material out of the way rather than carrying it with it, and she may only primarily have lost the interconnecting axons and dendrites, which can in time reconnect, instead of whole neurons.

We have new brain maps, too, so the specific challenges she is most likely to face are much better known today than even a few short years ago. And research into nerve repair from injury is helping us develop drugs and methodologies to help recover interconnections - perhaps all these can be brought to bear to help her recover.

I hope she can continue to serve in Congress.
.

[ScottSutton]

07:46 AM on 01/10/2011

Hopefully the injured parts of the brain are the 'lesser needed' sections. The frontal lobe is what makes us human and a live brain has the consistency of jello.

She unfortunately might have to step aside in congress and face her recovery over the next few years.

[RTIII]

01:04 PM on 01/10/2011

Yes, all that's right - the pre-frontal cortex, to be specific, is the most important for overall cognition, and from the sounds of it, that part escaped damage.

If she resigns, or is declared unable to serve, there will be an election - AZ state law.

[Aboomer]

11:31 PM on 01/09/2011

I think they say "through and through" because it went through her skull (entry wound) and then through again (exit wound), that's my best guess. Whatever the case I certainly hope she is in that five percent minority and survives with a good quality of life.

[Linda McIntyre]

07:24 PM on 01/09/2011

Why do they say through and through when it only went through once?

[lee4]

07:48 PM on 01/09/2011

The bullet went through her skull twice... to enter and to exit.

[RTIII]

11:35 PM on 01/09/2011

"Through and through" is a coloquialism that means, "completely through". Through, once, means it didn't exit.

[Shelia Washington]

11:54 PM on 01/09/2011

I think they said today that it did exit, and it might have exited through the right eye area.

[tlgeiger62]

07:10 PM on 01/09/2011

Recovery in the terms this surgeon is speaking means she won't die. You don't have a bullet pass "through and through" your brain and come back the same person, the same being, that you were prior to the bullet entering your head. My heart breaks for all those involved here. May all of them be comforted and one day know peace in their lives again.

[maslin]

03:10 PM on 01/09/2011

I read that the surgeons said that the bullet passed through only one hemisphere of Rep Giffords' brain. It passed completely through, as well.

Under the circumstances, this is excellent news. If it had damaged both hemispheres, she'd be in much worse shape.

Rep Giffords our thoughts are with you, your family, and the other victims and their families.

[southingtonian]

02:49 AM on 01/10/2011

it also did not do a pingpong-ball-in-boxcar, which would have been devastating/lethal.

[Totto]

02:28 PM on 01/09/2011

As President once said in a firm voice, "Enough!" We know what the cause of this catastrophe is: GUNS IN THE HANDS OF THE MENTALLY IMPAIRED! Stop and think of what's just happened to our country!

[marianne marks]

01:53 PM on 01/09/2011

HAS ANYONE HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THE SHOOTER'S PARENTS? I'D LIKE TO GET INFORMATION ON HIS HOME LIFE AND WHY THEY ALLOWED HIS ODD BEHAVIOR TO GO ON. MAYBE I MISSED SOME INFO, BUT I'VE BEEN WATCHING MSNBC AND HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.

[SkyCap]

02:39 AM on 01/10/2011

Yeah, like was he posting disorganized rants in all caps online? That should have tipped people off that he was unstable.

[MusicMaica]

12:38 PM on 01/10/2011

I don't know many parents who have enough pull with their 22 year old children to 'allow' for much. Even if they were aware of a mental illness, or if, in hindsight, his parents now recognize significators of violent tendencies, I am willing to bet that all the time they were living with and loving their son, prior to this event, the idea that he had the potential for such horrific violence was inconceivable. He was their child, and until I hear differently Im going to count them among the victims.

[Jeff Richardson]

01:06 PM on 01/09/2011

Alvarez is pretty typical of a neurosurgeon. Unrealistic expectations. Of course, he says, Gifford is in that 5% of patients who survive gunshots to the head, and of course she'll recover. Yet, he says nothing of what "recover" means. To a neurosurgeon, "recovered" often means "not needing the services of the neurosurgery team" any longer. In other words, by saving her life and seeing her transfered to a long term care facility, whether she is able to utter one word or just blink for yes and no is considered a "recovery" to a neurosurgeon. If she survives, it is highly unlikely that Ms. Giffords will ever be the same person again. I wish these docs would just tell the truth.

[keraz]

11:23 AM on 01/10/2011

First of all, Dr. Alvarez is an obstetrician and not a neurosurgeon. He is, however, a doctor and can make some educated comments on Rep. Giffords' condition.

I just see you as taking an opportunity to bash someone on Fox News. No where in the article did Dr. Alvarez say that Giffords is in the 5% that will survive. At this stage, no one can know if she will survive. I am hoping that she does and is able to continue to represent her district in Arizona. I will be praying for her.

Doctors can only tell us as much as they know. Beyond that, it's speculation at best.

[Minolta321]

12:59 PM on 01/09/2011

Democratic leaders calling for the political rhetoric to be "cooled". Meanwhile, the radical left will continue with the h@te because that's the only way to keep non thinking ground troops riled up and pushing for increasing, unsustainable levels of socialism.

[barbaritamn]

01:28 PM on 01/09/2011

Oops! I think you meant the "radical RIGHT." It is the right that consistently uses terroristic language in riling people up.

[Splainplease]

03:39 PM on 01/09/2011

"The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons -- your Big Guns -- to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win," -- Sarah Palin

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[bardgal]

01:31 PM on 01/09/2011

No one on the left is advocating violence, or that level of hatred. YOU OWN THAT.

[GunnyJ]

12:52 PM on 01/09/2011

I hope she amazes us with a complete recovery!

[7dr361]

12:50 PM on 01/09/2011

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[Jon Whittaker]

01:39 PM on 01/09/2011

What are you talking about? Wrong article, maybe?

[cincinnati]

07:44 PM on 01/09/2011

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[stuartbramhall]

01:58 AM on 01/10/2011

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[reggieb]

02:12 PM on 01/09/2011

we're lefties. we like sex.

[Mag7]

12:46 PM on 01/09/2011

I wonder if Dr. Peter Rhee is one of the non-white immigrants Governor Jan Brewer wants to kick out of Arizona now.