But until she is formally evaluated by a team of rehabilitation specialists, the extent of her disabilities remains unclear. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Download the TMZ App on the Apple App Store, Download the TMZ App on the Google Play Store. CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death, has been found in the brains of dozens of former players. Or they could have problems walking, reaching, getting dressed or feeding themselves. It was a bad night for both Vick and Gifford, but fortunately both men seem to have emerged from Florida without serious injuries. That's a general rule of thumb," said Lemole. A supportive staff might make it possible, he said, but "would it be the best thing for her?". "The belief is if you get shot in the head, you're dead, but it isn't like that," agreed the University of Miami's Dr. Ross Bullock, chief of neurotrauma at Jackson Memorial Hospital. "We can put a tube into the center of the brain to relieve the pressure, but she looks good now.". It now appears that Giffords can indeed move the right side of her body, although the extent to which she is able to do this remains unclear. It contains maybe 100 billion densely packed nerve cells, each of which is connected to 1,000 or so other nerve cells, called neurons. In addition, more than half of survivors go on to suffer seizures and need anti-epilepsy medication, Miami's Bullock said. That's not necessarily a recipe for misery; it just means people need to adjust, said Grafman, who has studied Vietnam veterans with brain injuries for 30 years.
Copy embed code. That's why patients should get into rehabilitation as soon as possible, where "people are paid to stimulate you," providing skilled expertise as well as respite for exhausted caregivers, he said. Fortunately, it stayed on one side of her brain, not hitting the so-called "eloquent areas" in the brain's center where such wounds almost always prove fatal. She notes that people who, like Giffords, have suffered damage to the left side of the brain tend to have: "The things we do every day and don't think about, all these things we think of as little become enormous and difficult to do," Zeldis says. Gretchen Whitmer, Trump insults Harris as 'a monster' morning after vice presidential debate, 34 people connected to White House infected by COVID-19: Internal FEMA memo, Fact-checking the 2020 vice presidential debate. Nina Zeldis, PhD, taught rehabilitation medicine at Israel's Tel Aviv University for more than 20 years. Steroids can be given to reduce swelling. Recovering from a gunshot wound to the head depends on the bullet's path, and while doctors Sunday are optimistic about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' odds, it can take weeks to months to tell the damage. She resigned from Congress 1 year later. If the pressure from the swelling reaches the arterial blood pressure, you no longer get blood flow to the brain and the brain is starved of blood," Black says. That team will perform a thorough evaluation, and then begin her rehab regimen as soon as possible, says Mark A. Brooks, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Glancy Rehabilitation Hospital, Duluth, Ga. "They will establish treatment goals and execute them the following day," Brooks tells WebMD. David Langer, director of cerebrovascular research, Cushing Neuroscience Institute, Great Neck, N.Y. Alan Manevitz, MD, family psychiatrist, Lenox Hill Hospital, N.Y.Â. While the worst isn't yet over for Giffords, a number of factors played a role in her survival thus far. Persistent stress kills neurons, he said, and can interfere with memory and decision-making beyond the long-term effects of the brain injury itself. What can surgeons do? So far, the news from Giffords' bedside is good. Berry's Love/Hate: How to make a lifetime fan the George Carlin way, Biggest Week 5 injury questions for all 32 NFL teams: Lamar Jackson, Drew Lock, Sam Darnold and more, 49ers' offensive reinforcements can't come soon enough, Can former champ Joe Flacco end Jets' misery? difficulty speaking and understanding speech. The course of recovery depends on things like age - with patients from teens to 40 recovering better than those over 50 to 60 - and how motivated, young and healthy a patient is, the size and location of the injury and even a genetic predisposition to recovery.
In addition to swelling, the risks to Giffords include "CSF [cerebrospinal fluid] leakage through the entry and exit wounds, cerebral artery spasm [vasospasm], seizures, and meningitis or brain abscess," said Dr. Neil Martin, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles. What is most shocking about Gabby Giffords now is how much she looks like her old self. Scientists are still unraveling just how the brain works to recover from traumatic injury and how to help it repair as much as possible. That bone is being preserved and can be reimplanted once the swelling abates, a technique the military uses with war injuries, added his colleague and trauma surgeon Dr. Peter Rhee. During rehabilitation, Zeldis says, many patients are able to compensate for these problems. In any case, brain rewiring - scientists call it plasticity - is driven by what a patient is learning and experiencing, said Jordan Grafman, director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Laboratory at the Kessler Foundation Research Center in West Orange. ", "Survival? This swelling, Flamm says, continues for about five days -- and usually is worst on the third day after the injury. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest?
Brooks notes that while the brain cells destroyed during Giffords' injury are gone, the damage may be limited. Adding to Giffords' good prospects is that paramedics got her to the operating room in 38 minutes, her doctors said. The window of recovery is greatest early on.
Part of HuffPost Politics. Copyright © 2019 Salon.com, LLC. Her golden locks are back; so is the sparkle in her eyes and her broad smile. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. ", The Giffords say they hope Frank's brain can be a "small part of the solution to an urgent problem concerning anyone involved with football, at any level.". That implies "a very high level of functioning in the brain," said Dr. Michael Lemole of Tucson's University Medical Center, Giffords' neurosurgeon. That part of the brain controls vision, language, and the ability to move the right side of the body. At the NFL, we are supporting grants to NIH and Boston University as well as other independent efforts to research the effects of repetitive head trauma. The parts of the brain destroyed by the bullet are gone forever. Details about her recovery have been thin. All rights reserved. Smart Grocery Shopping When You Have Diabetes, Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Dogs and Cats, Coronavirus in Context: Interviews With Experts. She suffered severe brain damage but gradually made recovery. "About 90 percent of people with penetrating craniocerebral injuries end up dying," said Dr. Anand Germanwala, chief of the Division of Cerebrovascular and Skull Base Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. "This was a devastating wound that traveled the length of the brain on the left side," Dr. Peter Rhee, trauma director at University Medical Center in Tucson, said during a press conference. But there is much reason for hope in Giffords' case. About 90% of people shot in the head do not survive, David Langer says. "But we are not waiting until science provides all of the answers. That was within a month of being shot in the head. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote!
Black says he's seen patients who have been shot in the head make amazing recoveries. But many others -- even though they work every bit as hard -- do not. "You take the skull up, but you still have the scalp covering the brain," Black says. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Giffords was awakened periodically and she has made nonverbal responses to simple commands, but Rhee said she has not spoken because she is on a ventilator. Over the next few days, doctors will keep a close eye on brain … "You can't postpone treatment. A bullet that crosses into both sides, or hemispheres, can leave extensive lasting damage. "Brain swelling is the biggest threat at this point," said Dr. Michael Lemole, chief of the the division of neurosurgery at the University of Arizona. Importantly, Giffords was responding nonverbally to simple commands in the emergency room -- things like "squeeze my hand.".
Brain tissues bruised by the force of the bullet continue to swell for days after the original injury. At a minimum, this team will include: Each member of the team will evaluate Giffords. The brain's left side does control speech abilities and the movement and sensation of the body's right side, Lemole noted. "This may have to occur on a gradual basis. All rights reserved. But for the most part, brain injury patients will always have some degree of impairment, Grafman said. Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter, Register to vote and apply for an absentee ballot today. ESPN investigative reporter Steve Fainaru reacts to the news that Frank Gifford suffered from CTE.
Her recovery could take years, and she could be in the hospital for several months. As soon as it's safe for her to leave the acute-care hospital, Giffords will enter a rehabilitation facility. Over the next few months, doctors hope to get a better idea of her cognitive deficits. Fellus compares brain rewiring after injury to taking back roads when an interstate highway is damaged. By Ryan Harkness Oct … "Crossing the 'geographic' center of the brain is essentially non-survivable.". Keith L. Black, MD, professor and chairman, department of neurosurgery and director, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. "The physicians in Arizona indicated that the wound was away from these critical structures," Black says. Gabrielle Giffords: Rumors and Controversy/Scandal. How is this possible? One expert questioned whether that would be the best thing for her to do. Grafman said progress often slows in the second six months of the first year, becoming perhaps not evident to those who see the patient every day, but noticeable to someone who drops by only every three months.
"Based on those comments, that is a positive side for the congresswoman.". 5 Years After Gabby Giffords' Brain Injury, Her Surgeon Talks About Recovery 03:53. To help control swelling, part of Giffords skull was removed and will be reimplanted, possibly in a few months. Linked to repeated brain trauma, it is associated with symptoms such as memory loss, impaired judgment, depression and, eventually, progressive dementia. A neuropsychologist. "We have had patients who have been shot in the head and were able to return to their previous occupations and are functioning near normal," he says. The NFL has made numerous rules changes to the game, all to enhance player health and safety at all levels of football. It can take weeks to tell the extent of damage, and months of intense rehabilitation to try to spur the brain's capacity to recover. Gabrielle Giffords in Medically Induced Coma to Help Brain Rest, FBI says it foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Gov.
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