Giffords to get speaking valve

HOUSTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' doctors said Wednesday they removed the tube draining fluid from her brain and will insert a speaking valve in her breathing tube.

Giffords' drain was removed Monday, and doctors said she is ready to start full rehabilitation, KPRC-TV, Houston, reported.

Giffords, D-Ariz., was transferred Wednesday from a Houston hospital to the TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation facility, where she continues to recover from a critical gunshot wound to the head Jan. 8.

"The congresswoman has done very well in her therapy sessions in the ICU," Dr. Gerard Francisco, the head of Giffords' rehabilitation team, said in a statement. "It will be good to have her at TIRR Memorial Hermann where we can devote more time to her rehabilitation and recovery."

Doctors Tuesday upgraded the congresswoman's medical status from "serious" to "good," the Houston Chronicle reported.

Giffords made "strong progress" at the hospital's neuro-intensive care unit since she arrived Friday, the hospital said.

The bullet that struck Giffords entered on her forehead's left side and exited the back of her skull, damaging some tissue, physicians said.

Six people died and 13 people, including Giffords, were injured when a gunman opened fire in front of a Tucson grocery store where the congresswoman had scheduled a "Congress on your Corner" event. Jared Loughner of Tucson has been charged in federal court in the incident and state charges are expected.