Gabrielle Giffords: First pictures of shot Congresswoman

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has released the first pictures of herself since she was shot in the head in January.

The pictures appeared on her Facebook page.

Ms Giffords, 41, was seriously injured during a shooting spree by a gunman in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and wounded 13 others.

She is being treated at a clinic in Houston, Texas. Doctors say she has been recovering well.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13742144

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[Judi Lynn]

1. What a way to start a day. Thank you so much. She looks wonderful.

Very focused, very bright, and what a smile. It IS enough to bring tears to your eyes.

Hoping only the best for this hard-working, conscientious, special human being. She deserves it.

[Firebrand Gary]

2. I am without words and moved to tears.

My prayers are with Gabby and her continued recovery.

[Yo_Mama]

6. I wanted to stress

That effectively she probably doesn't have much in the way of future limitations aside from perhaps some left side motor weakness, though the way she's going, in five years most of that might be gone.

The clues to this are that she could read and comprehend well before she could speak much:
April Arizona Republic article
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/04/24/20110424gabrielle-giffords-medical-condition.html

And here is a June article:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/06/09/20110609gabrielle-giffords-health-issues-revealed.html

For those who haven't ever dealt with a brain injury, the tendency is to judge by ability to speak. However the ability to speak is relatively easy to relearn, although not QUICK. It's a complicated wide-net function, especially in women, and it takes quite a bit of time. What determines how well you recover is how hard you work at it. This lady appears to be a very hard worker indeed.

From reading these articles you might get the idea she hasn't progressed much, but I think that is because of the recent operation to close the skull, which would produce that appearance.

[xxqqqzme]

29. Thank you or that background.

I have followed Ms. Giffords recovery very closely. I suffered a brain injury in an auto accident leaving my left side paralyzed. After I got over the shock that a portion of my brain was never going function again, I directed my energy to my therapy regimen. It is indeed, hard work. It is probably the hardest job I ever had. I know my family wasn't always aware of my progress because it was incremental but I knew every little improvement I made. And it is lifelong therapy. Every few months I go back to the routine if I feel my foot is not working properly or my shoulder tightens. I was fortunate to have excellent doctors and terrific physical therapists. I was also fortunate in that I had great health insurance at the time.

[classof56]

31. Wow--what an amazing story you have shared!

You too are an inspiration, greatly to be admired. Glad you are a fellow DUer. You do us all proud!

Peace and blessings.

[xxqqqzme]

85. Thank you for the blessings.

[lunatica]

36. Thanks for sharing this!

And may you continue to improve and be an inspiration.

[xxqqqzme]

86. I do and hope I will.

The one good thing to emerge - with only one good hand and arm I had to give up wearing panty hose.....:applause:

[glinda]

32. Thank you for that info. This still makes me deeply sad though.

[trud]

42. yo_mama

Thanks, I was a little depressed after reading the articles.

I have a friend with a spinal injury, and despite the stuff about the first six months/year, he is still making progress several years later.

[eppur_se_muova]

49. Thanks for the info. The tone of the previous articles did indeed have me concerned. nt

[Yo_Mama]

3. Adding WaPo link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/first-photos-of-gabrielle-giffords-released-since-shooting-shows-arizona-congresswoman-smiling/2011/06/12/AGxAaQRH_story.html?hpid=z4

This article has more info about her state of recovery and current limitations as well as a different photo.

She does look absolutely beautiful, though.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Thanks! nt

[spooky3]

5. A beautiful spirit always shines through

[Yo_Mama]

7. That was my thought!

Thank you for putting it into words.

[Raschel]

23. No make-up, recovering from a horrible physical trauma, and she GLOWS!

She is such an inspiration to me. I love you Gabby!!

[aquart]

8. So relieved to see this picture.

And I think back to the first reports that told us she'd been killed.

[avebury]

9. K&R

[Pooka Fey]

10. I'm still furious that she was shot by a piece of human shit.

I'm not ready to make nice. Her life will never be the same, EVER. Her progress is astounding and a tribute to her great spirit. BUT

...the USA Political Establishment right tried to assassinate Gabrielle Giffords, by proxy, and the life she deserved and created for herself has been stolen from her and her loved ones!!!! She can form simple sentences now. Are we ready to acknowledge how completed fucked that is, for a congresswoman??? For anyone, in fact?

And all I see on the USA news are stories about "she who must not be named" and her "tour of shame", and how US taxpayers are on the hook for her security. OK?? I notice that this story about Congresswoman Giffords comes from the BBC, for crisssakes. The political system that controls this country is PURE EVIL.

Gabrielle Giffords, you will remain in my prayers forever, and I thank you for your example. I don't know how you manage to smile, but your example manages to help me keep smiling myself. But I AM FUCKING FURIOUS.

[rurallib]

14. and while we are at it, has the rhetoric been turned down?

What little I hear from the right (and it is very little) it sounds just as threatening as ever.
Even I got a appeal from the NRA a few days back with some scare stories (UN coming to take your guns - Obama coming to take your guns).
Understand that gun & ammp sales are absolutely skyrocketing.

[Pooka Fey]

17. The rhetoric has been turned down NOT ONE BIT.

This horrible tragedy hasn't changed a goddam thing, neither in gun control, neither in Corporate Media dominated hate speech diffused over the public airwaves. It just staggers the imagination to contemplate how fucked up this society is. I bawled for almost two hours, hysterically, when I found out that Congresswoman Giffords suffered an assassination attempt while meeting with her constituents.

The Big Brother media doesn't even call the events of that day by their proper name - an assassination attempt of an elected official and a mass murder. I swear, the mind - control tactics are just, worse that anything George Orwell imagined when he wrote 1984.

Arizona is my adopted state, where there are islands of sane, responsible progressive citizens trying to live a decent life in the midst of oceans of tea-bag republo-fascist idiot gun-toting crazies.

:rant:

Now I am going to try and recover a bit of my inner calm.

[PavePusher]

38. Some of us "sane, responsible progressive citizens trying to live a decent life"...

also "tote" guns.

It's one of those Civil Rights thing-a-ma-jigs.

Just sayin'....

[jpak]

39. tote or cling?

:shrug:

[PavePusher]

44. What you do with yours is your business. n/t

[davidpdx]

15. I'm so happy she has served and is recovering

It seems like she won't return to work though as she still needs much more speech therapy. I hope they find a strong Democrat to run in her place.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

26. 58 year old man and I cried more for her than at any other time I can remember.

And yes, I'm totally in synch with your tone. I could only be angrier if I were 20 years younger. Half a tongue-in-cheek, that's what I tell my friends, many of whom are 20+ years younger than I. When the topic is the impending and rapidly accelerating deterioration of our country and planet, I say "I'm glad I'm not as young as yooze guys."

[trud]

43. well, pooka

I haven;t seen the "USA news" about her - yet anther reason I;m glad I got rid of my tv and don't read national news in the traditional media except the Times.

[customerserviceguy]

52. Yes, and the British webpage

further on down had a story about he's "unfit for trial". Another case of the insanity defense going off the rails.

[boppers]

57. Unfit for trial is not indefinite, and insanity defense doesn't work in such cases.

They have evidence of pre-meditation, which hoses the whole "briefly out of their mind" defense.

[customerserviceguy]

65. I'm sure this evil bastard's shysters

will keep him away from a trial. That's what lawyers do, protect the guilty.

I hope someone shanks him in jail or the mental hospital he's going to.

[boppers]

73. Lawyers protect the law.

The prosecutors are lawyers too.

[customerserviceguy]

80. Lawyers protect themselves

The hell with the rest of us.

[gejohnston]

67. from what I understand, he was completely out of his mind.

His lawyers had nothing to do with it. The shrinks told the judge, and the judge ruled.

[boppers]

72. Unfit for trial isn't the same as an insanity defense, or a specific diagnosis.

There's a huge pile of prior judgments on the topic of being competent to stand trial:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_criminal_competencies

Since '84, there was a huge shift in the law WRT insanity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense#The_Insanity_Defense_Reform_Act_of_1984

As far as him being "out of his mind", yes, he was/is somewhat nuts, but he was nuts with enough presence of mind:
- to target her in advance
- to drop off photos for development
- to get a nearby hotel
- to pick up his photos
- to post a goodbye note on the internet with said photos
- to go to two stores to get ammunition that morning
- to be stopped and released for a traffic violation
- to go home and get a cab, after returning his parents car
- to go *into* the store (at the crime site) to get change to pay the cab before shooting

...before the shooting. This wasn't some nut who happened to have a gun on him, this was a planned assassination.

[gejohnston]

75. Yes, but my point has more to with

his, IIRC, schizophrenia and knowing the difference between right and wrong. That is the information I read and am basing my view on.
While temporary insanity as most think of it is indeed as rare to non existant as "heat of the moment" murders by otherwise good and peaceful people, he was indeed very mentally ill and does not seemed to be affected by any political propaganda and had other motives. It seems personal for some reason.

[boppers]

78. If he thought his actions could be viewed as "wrong", why the goodbyes?

Even if he thought his actions were defensible, he said goodbye because he thought the outcome would not be acceptable to society. He knew what the cause and effect was.

[gejohnston]

82. I'm not a shrink but my guess

was that he figured the voices in his head were sending him on a suicide mission.

[gejohnston]

66. I agree but, I think your anger is miss placed.

Like I said in a different thread.
while everyone was getting hysterical Palin's cross hairs (which looked more like 19th century Klan symbols than a rifle scope, but she would not know that), or the possible political motivations of a schizophrenic, the most important lesson was completely ignored.
He is not right wing, he is not left wing, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia only after he was arrested.
Why was nothing done before? Jan Brewer closed all of the community mental health centers in Pima County prior to that. His parents nor his girl friend had the financial means to get him proper help.

I put this on Brewer and her greedy assed cronies more than Palin or anyone else.

[PSzymeczek]

70. As a Pima County employee

in a managerial position, his mother has excellent insurance. Under the provisions of the ACA in force as of September, she could have retained him on her coverage and gotten him mental health care. She just didn't. His parents are at least partially to blame.

[gejohnston]

71. I stand corrected. nt

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

12. I wonder how her brain becomes healthier/stronger because of her beautiful courages outlook....

[gejohnston]

76. A good question and an inspiration for all of us I think.

[Bluzmann57]

13. One of the most beautiful women in the world

Heck what am I saying; one of the most beautiful people in the world. Great way to start the day.

[Orrex]

16. What the hell's her problem?

It's not enough that she's recovering so well from a shattering, catastrophic injury? She has to look good doing it, too? I look like death warmed over when I get a simple migraine.


The nerve of this woman!

[GoCubsGo]

18. LOL!

I look like death warmed over on a normal basis.

But, yeah. These photos are amazing. What a great start to the day!

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. She really is making the rest of us look bad, isn't she?

[wisteria]

19. What a beautiful and courageous smile. n/t

[Botany]

20. You go Gabby!

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. May she wear her scars proudly.

So that they never forget that era of right-wing hate talk, since it was all those calls to kill liberals which set the ball in motion.

[rasputin1952]

24. Thank you for posting this and the updates throughout the thread...

I am not one prone to believing in miracles, but by a series of events, I can come close to calling this "miraculous".

An amazing woman is making a remarkable comeback; time will tell how far she will have to walk the path to, hopefully, full recovery. The signs are good though.

Her smile can light the world...:hug:

[Yon_Yonson]

25. Good news and thank you for posting this

[Little Star]

27. Wonderful to see her looking so good.

[MrMickeysMom]

28. What a wonderful thing to see, indeed!

Thank-you, Congresswoman!

[Kind of Blue]

30. Just as pretty as ever!

Thanks very much for posting. KnR!

[DFW]

33. I wish I could say how good she looks

But if you knew her before, this is still a shock. Only her smile has survived (although that is a LOT,
under the circumstances). But it is only six months. I'll bet she'll look a whole lot better after another
six months.

[Rex]

41. Didn't know her, but seen pictures of her before the attempted

assassination. Poor lady, I hope she can get back to a 'normal' life someday.

[DFW]

79. If you never met her, it's hard to explain

Gabby just radiated, she was so upbeat, so smart, so aware. I won't give up my hopes that she'll recover most of that.

[Garbo 2004]

54. Picture according to AP was taken May 17, before she had surgery to replace

the missing portion of her skull. So that's part of it.

I think it's rather brave to release a pic from before she had the missing piece of her skull replaced. She probably looks even more herself now, although she probably still has a crew cut from losing her hair again due to the surgery and is hating that till her hair grows back.

[boppers]

58. Hey now, it's not just the smile.

The lopsided/cocky angle she holds herself at, the *huge* forehead, the balled cheeks, the twinkle in her eye, her facial geometry, It's all there. Even her natural hair color is back (and she's back to short hair!)... I've known her since before this was taken back in the 80's (Go penguins!):



So, yes, it's a totally different look than her long blond or streaked 'do, but people who have known her for 20+ years can see through that (as, well, we've know her with a *lot* of different hair).

edit: I forget which year the photo was from, she was class of UHS '88.

[eppur_se_muova]

81. You sure that's not Rachel Maddow?

Kind of an interesting resemblance. :)

[Lucinda]

34. Thank you!

May she continue to inspire us all with her progress.

[tomm2thumbs]

35. wow, just wow

all best thoughts to her continued recovery

[LadyHawkAZ]

37. Finally, an OP to smile about

and I'm smiling. :)

[EFerrari]

40. Amazing. K&R

[Generic Other]

45. Oh my! So wonderful to see such a recovery

What a brave and remarkable person. Does she not put Sarah Palin and her ilk to shame?

[japple]

46. "I see your true colors shinning through..." Beautiful! Thanks

for posting.

[JDPriestly]

47. She looks great. What an intelligent smile.

[harun]

48. Amazing woman. Wish her all the best.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. Wow. K & R.

Keep up the good work, Gabby. We're all pulling for you! :applause: :woohoo:

[MoonRiver]

51. How wonderful to see her looking so healthy and beautiful!

Just think. This was a month ago. I'm sure she's even more lovely and fit today! :)

[oberliner]

53. Amazing recovery, wonderful story

All the best to her!

[lib2DaBone]

55. God Bless this woman... Jan Brewer and your clan ..you are low-life scum.....

I hope no one forgets that the Repukes and Tea Bag scums (once again) are responsible for this assault.

God speed Gabriella...

[yurbud]

56. astonishing. She just looks like she got a different hair cut.

[barbtries]

59. she looks great.

just wonderful.

[Nossida]

60. Bravo Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

The Gods are with you to survive
such a heinous attack. The swine
that shot her needs to be put
down like the rabid dog he is.

[cherish44]

61. Congresswoman Giffords you are an inspiration!

Keep on fighting, we need you!

[BlueIris]

62. Hey, Congresswoman. Get better even faster and come on back to us. nt

[DianaForRussFeingold]

63. Wow! She looks wonderful!

:loveya: I'm so happy to see her beautiful smile! :applause:

[Rhiannon12866]

64. This is the first pic that I saw, with her mother:

Amazing, and she does look as lovely as ever... O8)

[onehandle]

68. Agreed. nt

[lucca18]

69. So Beautiful! nt

[dogfacedboy]

74. This Is Good!

[Tripod]

77. Thanks for this post.

Good stuff.

[eppur_se_muova]

83. Giffords’ aide says congresswoman could be released from hospital as early as end of June

Source: WaPo/AP

By Associated Press, Published: June 11

HOUSTON — An aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Saturday that she could be released from a rehabilitation hospital in Houston as early as this month, offering the latest indication that the Arizona congresswoman is making progress in recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Chief of Staff Pia Carusone told The Associated Press that doctors and family are considering “many factors” while making the critical next-step decision to release Giffords from TIRR Memorial Hermann, the hospital where she has been undergoing intensive daily rehabilitation since late January.

“We’re looking at before the end of the month. We’re looking at early July,” Carusone said. “We don’t have a date."
***
But Carusone made clear in a recent interview with The Arizona Republic that her boss still had difficulty stringing together sentences and it remained unclear if — or when — she would be able to resume her Congressional duties.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/giffords-aide-says-congresswoman-could-be-released-from-hospital-as-early-as-end-of-june/2011/06/12/AGBJP2QH_story.html

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It sounds like her therapy has been very difficult, despite her good progress physically. :(

[midnight]

84. Recovery is exhausting. I can't imagine the difficulty putting this

new world together for Gabby....