Doctors optimistic about Giffords

Updated at 12:22 p.m. ET

Doctors in Tucson just finished a news conference on the condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The Arizona Democrat was shot in the head at point blank range on Saturday, during a rampage outside of a supermarked that killed six people.

Dr. Michael Lemole of the University Medical Center in Tucson said Giffords remains in critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit. She is in a medically induced coma and unable to speak but responds to simple commands.

Surgeons removed part of Giffords' skull to treat a wound, created when a bullet traversed the left hemisphere of her brain -- from the back of her head to the front.

"Brain swelling is the biggest threat right now," he said. Lemole and Dr. Peter Rhee declined to put a timetable to Giffords' recovery. Lemole said similar brain injuries could involve "months to years" for recovery and rehab.

Rhee, director of the hospital's trauma unit, says Giffords has been able to follow simple commands. "I don't know what her deficits will be in the future. Overall this is about as good as you are going to get.''

Here is some of the news conference:

Update at 12: 18 p.m. ET: Dr. Peter Rhee, head of the trauma unit at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., said Giffords is alive because paramedics got her to the hospital quickly. The trauma surgeon "did everything right," he said. The other part of it is luck and where the bullet hit.

Rhee said "No one that should have died ... died. Everyone else is being transferred out of ICU."

Update at 12:30 p.m. ET: Rhee said Giffords "did not speak" when she arrived at the hospital. "She did not say any words." Rhee, who served in Iraq, said his situation in Tucson "doesn't compare. This is a luxury for me," referring to the hospital in Arizona and its resources.

Updated at noon ET:

A news conference is beginning at University Medical Center in Arizona on the condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

Dr. Peter Rhee, director of trauma at the center, said he never thought he'd experience this kind of tragedy in his backyard. Asked about the brain injury suffered by Giffords and its aftermath, Rhee said: "This is about as good as it is going to get," Rhee said. "This so far has been a good situation."

Only one patient remains in critical condition and that is Giffords, who is in a medically induced coma.

Dr. Michael Lemole, chief of neurosurgery, says doctors were able to control Giffords' bleeding, which was not excessive.

Lemole said there were concerns if the bullet crossed the geometric center of her brain. That was "not the case in this instance. Giffords is able to communicate and follow simple commands."

"Brain swelling at any time can take a turn for worse," Lemole said. "She looks good now... Brain swelling is the biggest threat."

Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at point blank range on Saturday in an Arizona rampage that left six people dead.

Rhee said Giffords can't open her eyes. Lemole said she is responding to simple commands, such as squeezing fingers.

Lemole said surgery took about two hours. The bullet went through the left side of her brain but did not make "critical trajectories" that would make recovery difficult. "We don't speculate" on length of recovery, he said.

As part of the surgery, Rhee said, Lemole had to remove Giffords' skull.

Lemole said it is not uncommon for a patient in these kinds of cases to be in intensive care for at least a week.

Giffords and 10 other victims of the shooting are being treated at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz.

(Posted by Catalina Camia with reporting from Kevin Johnson)