Giffords 'Holding Her Own,' Gives Thumbs-Up Sign

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is "holding her own," able to respond to simple commands by raising two fingers and even managing to give a thumbs-up sign, her doctors said today, two days after she was shot in the head in an assassination attempt.

The Arizona congresswoman was not showing signs of further brain swelling, the doctors said.

"At this phase in the game, no change is good. And we have no change," Dr. G. Michael Lemole, her neurosurgeon at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., said at a news conference. "We're not out of the woods yet ... but every day that goes by and we don't see an increase [in swelling], we're slightly more optimistic."

As she could on Sunday, Giffords can follow simple commands like holding up two fingers and squeezing a thumb, Lemole said. And he noted that CT scans showed no additional swelling. Swelling usually peaks on the third day after surgery -- in this case, Tuesday.

"That's why we're much, much more optimistic, and we can breathe a collective sigh of relief after about the third or fourth day," Lemole said.

Dr. Peter Rhee, the hospital's trauma chief, said Giffords has managed to give doctors a thumbs-up gesture and has been reaching for her breathing tube, even when she is sedated.

"That's a purposeful movement," he said, according to The Associated Press. "That's a great thing. She's always grabbing for that tube."

Earlier this morning, Lemole told CBS's "The Early Show" that "the best way of describing her this morning is that she's holding her own."

Giffords, 40, is in critical condition and on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. Doctors wake her periodically to check on her and then she is sedated again.

Her family is with her constantly, Rhee said. "The family is doing very well," Lemole added.

Doctors say it's too early to say what brain function the Arizona Democrat may have lost or what kind of recovery she will face.

"We don't close the book on recovery for years," Lemole said on CBS. "The most important question to ask is how long will it be before she's out of the woods. That, I think, will be in the next few days, maybe a week."

Lemole did say that Giffords' vision could be affected by the gunshot wound. He wouldn't comment on whether she could move the lower part of her body.

Giffords was shot Saturday morning outside a Tucson supermarket where she was meeting with constituents. A gunman opened fire, hitting her in the back of the head and killing six people and wounding 14. The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, appeared in court this afternoon and was ordered held without bond.

Giffords on Saturday underwent a two-hour operation in which doctors removed part of her skull to help relieve swelling. "As soon as swelling subsides, we put that right back in the skull," Lemole said.

She was shot in the left side of the brain, which generally controls movement and feeling on the right side of the body and speech.

Giffords escaped a more serious gunshot wound -- the kind that results from a bullet traveling from one side of the brain to the other. She was shot on the left side, with the bullet hitting her from behind and exiting through the front, doctors said.

Giffords is the only shooting victim still in critical condition. Five patients are in serious condition, one is in fair condition and the other is in good condition, Rhee said. Some patients will need additional surgery later in the week, he said.

Though the victims have all been treated physically, they could suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, Rhee said, adding that doctors will focus on emotional care.

"We've got to bring them back as a whole human being," Rhee said. "That's what we try to concentrate on in the trauma center, more than just whether you're alive or dead."

Lemole added that the shooting affected not just the victims, but also their relatives and the people who cared for them in the aftermath of the shooting.

"This has had a tremendous emotional impact on all of us," he said at the news conference.