TUCSON, Ariz. — Less than two weeks after surviving a bullet through the brain, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is to be moved to Houston to begin an arduous journey of intensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
She'll have to relearn how to think and plan. It's unclear if she is able to speak 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.
Hospital spokeswoman Janet Stark said Giffords was able to stand on her feet with assistance from medical staff Wednesday in another significant milestone in her recovery.
Giffords' family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman on Friday to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where her husband Mark Kelly lives and works as an astronaut. 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," Kelly said in a statement released by Giffords' congressional office.
The staff at University Medical Center in Tucson "has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase."
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury indicted Jared Loughner on Wednesday night, accusing him of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.
Loughner, 22, is accused of shooting the Democratic lawmaker in the forehead Jan. 8 while she was meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson. The gunman shot 18 other people, killing six.
The indictment does not include two murder charges included in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of another Giffords aide and a federal judge. U.S. attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke said Wednesday's initial indictment was just the beginning of federal legal action against the Tucson resident.
Authorities in Arizona said Loughner was set to be back in court next week. A preliminary hearing Monday for Jared Loughner will be held in a large federal courtroom in Phoenix.
Dr. John Holcomb, a retired Army colonel and a trauma surgeon at the Houston hospital, praised the care she received in Tucson and said Giffords would "move quickly toward a tailored and comprehensive rehab plan."
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. Kelly told ABC in an interview that she gave him a neck rub.
Still, the extent of her injuries and long-term prognosis won't be known for some time.
Giffords' family considered rehabilitation centers in Washington, New York, Chicago and Houston, doctors said.
The Houston one "has a national reputation for treating serious penetrating brain injuries and is also in a community where I have family and a strong support network," Kelly's statement said.
He is scheduled to command NASA's last space shuttle flight in April, but that's uncertain now.
In Arizona, meanwhile, a video surfaced indicating that one of the shooting victims died trying to save the life of another person at the political rally.
Surveillance footage of the Jan. 8 rampage showed that Judge John Roll used his body as a shield to cover an injured man. Roll then took a bullet to the back, and lost his life in the process.
"The judge is a hero," Pima County sheriff's Chief Rick Kastigar said.
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