Giffords stands, readies for rehabilitation

TUCSON, Ariz. - Less than two weeks after surviving a bullet through the brain, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords stood up Wednesday and looked out the window of her hospital room as she prepares to be moved to Houston to begin an arduous journey of intensive physical rehabilitation.

Hospital spokeswoman Janet Stark said Giffords was able to stand on her feet with assistance from medical staff.

Giffords will have to relearn how to think and plan. It's unclear whether she is able to speak now or how well she can see. And while she is moving both arms and legs, it's uncertain how much strength she has on her right side.

Also Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Jared Loughner, the suspect in the shooting rampage, of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.

The indictment does not include two murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, 30, and U.S. District Judge John Roll, 63.

Giffords' swift transition from an intensive care unit to a rehab center is based on the latest research, which shows the sooner rehab starts, the better patients recover. Giffords' family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman Friday to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston. Her husband, an astronaut, lives and works there. The exact day of the move will depend on her health.

"I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting," Mark Kelly said in a statement released by Giffords' office.

Giffords was shot in the forehead Jan. 8 while meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson. She remains in serious condition, but her recovery has amazed her family and impressed her doctors.

Over the weekend, Giffords was weaned off the ventilator and had her breathing tube replaced with a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe. Doctors also inserted a feeding tube and repaired her right eye socket, which the bullet damaged.

Since being taken off sedation, Giffords has been alert and opening her eyes more often. She also started rigorous physical therapy, dangling her legs over her bedside to exercise her muscles and sitting in a chair for periods at a time.

The gunman shot 18 other people, killing six and wounding 12. All other survivors have been released from hospitals.