LI doctors: Giffords' progress remarkable
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman who opened fire in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people on Jan. 8, 2011. Credit: Getty Images
It's hard to call Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lucky.
But local doctors say the congresswoman's progress toward recovery is unusual for someone who had a bullet pass through her brain.
Her chances were enhanced because a bullet missed a crucial vein in the brain. She also appears to have benefited from relatively new medical advances, including a procedure that became popular in treating wounded U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War.
"This kind of thing is overwhelmingly surprising, since she was shot at point-blank range. It's attributed to good fortune and good work," said Dr. Jeffrey Brown, a Great Neck neurosurgeon and chief of neurosurgery at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.
After opening her eyes for the first time Wednesday, Giffords (D-Ariz.) was reportedly responding to doctors' commands, sitting up in bed and moving all of her limbs, although her right arm was still weak Thursday.
Within 40 minutes after she was shot on Saturday, surgeons at the University of Arizona Medical Center temporarily removed a portion of her skull to allow for brain swelling without creating further injury. The operation is called a decompressive craniectomy.
A similar procedure was used after a freak accident on Long Island in 2005, when a North Bellport man accidentally backed an SUV over his 21/2-year-old son's head.
Dr. Raj Narayan, chief of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, was optimistic that Giffords will keep improving.
"I do expect that she will speak because she is following commands right now," he said.
Narayan said it was "absolutely, without a doubt, good luck" that the bullet missed a major vein in the middle of the brain by mere centimeters.
Now, doctors will watch for seizures, infections and blood clots. They will likely put Giffords on a physical therapy plan to rebuild her strength.
There's no sure way of knowing whether she'll make a full recovery, Narayan said. But he has seen patients with similar injuries do very well.
"With each passing day, we can make better and better predictions," Narayan said.
