First impression: not looking too bad for having been shot in the head. What an incredible lady and what an incredible recovery.
Yeah, looks great when you consider everything.
Yep, she looks a little different but still an attractive lady.
Yes. Doesn’t look like her appearance will be a problem, at least.
It’s entirely her choice, of course, but if she were my representative I’d like to be seeing video clips of her talking, if it’s possible. People with brain trauma often go through a long recovery where they are rebuilding skills and tire very easily, but at least for brief periods they seem pretty much normal. If that is her situation, it would probably be good for constituents to know that there was something to look forward to. I imagine and hope they would want to keep her in office if she would be able to return to work.
Gee, what is the status of her term? What do voters say?
That’s it? A little dent? I’m happily shocked that she looks so great.
She looks awesome. I hope Loughner gets to see.
Very encouraging! I might be wrong, but I don’t think she can talk yet beyond saying single words. As one of her constituents, I’m willing to wait.
Appear to be a little right-sided facial muscle weakness, otherwise she’s looking good.
For those expecting a return to anything like normal function (thought, speech, physical abilities) that would permit resuming her former work, the reality is that such a devastating injury is very hard to come back from. Think James Brady.
I hope she can beat the heavy odds against her and have something approaching a normal life.
Yes.
I was a little shocked to see the picture. The media has been so optimistic and Pollyanna about the whole thing, they would have you think she just got a scratch and will be back to normal next week. But the reality, which is brought home by looking at the picture, is that she sustained a traumatic brain injury, and her life will be vastly different now, and she may be a vastly different person, as well. Lovely smile, though, always.
I hope she has a great recovery too. But yeah, chances are she’ll never be anything close to the same - and she’s lucky to have even that.
It really depends on what part of your brain is injured, and in what way.
My dad lost about 1/3 of his brain mass to brain injury (hemorrhage, no trauma) 11 years ago, but he looks normal (that took about 4 years though) and is very normal to speak with - very verbal and bright, still has his full personality, long-term memories, lots of knowledge (he only got close to the level he’s at now after about 6 years of recovery/therapy). He probably won’t ever be able to hold a job again, because his injury has severely and permanently affected his decision-making, logical reasoning, short term memory, and ability to accomplish tasks. And he’s a miracle story for the severity of the injury…
james brady’s injury was quite a bit worse. the bullet went through both hemispheres toward the front. more of his brain was damaged from the bullet path.
rep. giffords’ bullet path from what has been reported was narrow and not as much brain was damaged.
i don’t think she will be back to work next month, i do think that she will be visiting her office in the near future as they move her occupational therapy to her home base.
I think after such a random and horrible tragedy, people really wanted to believe she’d bounce back in a big hurry. There was clearly some symbolism in all that. She looks good in the picture, although if you saw her without knowing who it was, you would probably figure she’d had an operation involving the left side of her head. The story makes clear that she can speak, but she’s still limited at this point. Predictions that she might run for re-election or the Senate next year were probably hopelessly unrealistic from the beginning.
I do not think she will be able to reassume office, but as long as she is alive and can enjoy her family life, who cares.
No. No way. Those are two different people. I may have mild prosopagnosia, but those pictures look nothing alike.
She is a lovely person, and I hope that her recovery continues. Any recovery after such a horrific injury is to be applauded.