Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Gabrielle Giffords will survive, doctors say

Thank heavens:
Just three days after a bullet passed through Representative Gabrielle Giffords’s brain, and one day before the president was scheduled to come here to address the shooting rampage in which she was wounded, doctors said Tuesday that Ms. Giffords’s chances of survival were certain. She is able to breathe on her own, although she remains on a ventilator as a precaution.
Dr. Peter Rhee, the medical director of the University Medical Center's Trauma and Critical Care unit (where Giffords is being cared for) said at a news conference that she had a "one hundred and one percent chance of surviving."

"She will not die. She does not have that permission from me," he said.

Giffords is able to move both of her arms, and doctors say that her eyelids have flickered, indicating she is attempting to open her eyes.

Two doctors brought in to consult concluded that Giffords was receiving the best possible care, according to a news release issued by University of Medical Center (UMC), a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Arizona.

“Everything we’ve seen reflects the highest quality care,” said Dr. James Ecklund, medical director of neurosurgery for the Inova Health System.

“Dr. Rhee’s team’s aggressive resuscitation and Dr. Lemole’s team’s precise surgical intervention saved her life. Her ICU care is equally outstanding, providing the optimum environment for brain healing.”

We at NPI are thankful that Representative Giffords is expected to recover. This senseless attack has already claimed enough lives. We pray that her recovery is swift and full, and that she has many happy and meaningful years ahead of her.

We look forward to seeing her back in action in Congress.

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