Giffords Makes "A Major Leap Forward"

[Madeline]

TUCSON — Five days after she was shot in the head at close range, Representative Gabrielle Giffords is able to keep her eyes open for as long as 15 minutes and can move her legs and hands, although her right hand has only slight movement, doctors at University Medical Center here said on Thursday.

Doctors called her progress “a major leap forward” but expressed caution, saying that for now, they would not upgrade Ms. Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, from critical condition. Dr. Peter Rhee, head of trauma at the hospital, said in an interview that the team planned to bring an expert neuro-ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon to help assess the injuries to the bones around Ms. Giffords’s eyes. The damage to the area could have damaged her vision, Dr. Rhee said.

“I believe one day she will be able to think,” Dr. Rhee said. “What she will be able to do physically, it is too early to say.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/us/14giffords.html?sq=giffords%20recovery&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=3&adxnnlx=1295010084-+LY2eVEzlhR3/o4K3gGSOQ

What good news. Her simple survival seems miraculous.....I hope she will recover completely.