Astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, said Monday he'd decide within the next two weeks whether to leave his wife's bedside and command NASA's final launch of space shuttle Endeavour in April.
Kelly said he visited NASA's Johnson Space Center on Monday for the first time since his wife was shot Jan. 8 during an event with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket.
He said he has received an outpouring of support from his colleagues and people across the nation since a gunman redirected the couple's lives from Capitol Hill and NASA training facilities to hospital rooms .
Kelly was hopeful that his wife could move to TIRR Memorial Hermann and start a full-fledged rehab program as early as Wednesday. She is currently at Memorial Hermmann's Texas Medical Center neuro-intensive care unit a few blocks away.
"It's possible that it could be Wednesday, Thursday or Friday," Kelly said. "We're not that sure. ... She has a team of doctors that are discussing the overall situation."
Doctors are treating Giffords for fluid buildup in her brain, a complication that developed before she left the University Medical Center in Tucson, where she was treated for a gunshot wound to the head.
One of her doctors said Saturday that their next big decision will come the end of this week, when they determine whether the catheter currently draining the fluid can be removed or whether she needs a more permanent solution, a self-contained tube that would require surgery.
Kelly, during his visit to the Johnson Space Center, checked in with his boss, Peggy Whitson, chief of the center's astronaut office, with whom he will make a decision about the shuttle launch.
He is set to start training Feb. 7, but has yet to say whether he will participate and ultimately command the Endeavour mission.
"Whether I'm actually going to do that or not, we have not decided," Kelly said.
He may be replaced on the flight by Rick Sturckow if he decides to remain in Houston.
Kelly has spent most of his waking hours with Giffords, speaking at length with doctors and monitoring her progress as she continues to improve, he said.
"The first three days I slept eight hours total and then I realized I've got to be able to sleep because I'm making decisions with regard to her health and her care," he said. "So now I'm getting more regular sleep. It doesn't do her any good if I can't function normally."
Daughters back in school
Kelly said he was optimistic for a full recovery, adding that Giffords has been participating in rehabilitation exercises while she is being treated in the NICU. He said her progress is evident, but declined to give specifics.
"She was better yesterday than the day before and is better today and there's more stuff she can do," he said. "She's getting physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy every day. The doctors are very impressed. ... I don't know when she's going to be doing laps around the building, but it's coming."
Kelly, who lives in League City with his two daughters, Claudia and Claire, has moved in with a friend downtown so that he is closer to the Texas Medical Center.
He talks with Giffords frequently during his visits, he said, adding that she knows the eyes of the nation are following her progress.
His daughters are back at school, he said, and are getting help with their schoolwork while he tends to Giffords.
"I'm trying to get things back to as normal as they can be for Claudia and Claire," he said. "I'm trying to do that because I know that's what Gabby would want. ... She would want us to return to as normal a situation, as quickly as possible."
He would not elaborate on Giffords' ability to respond to communication.
"She understands where she is and is very aware of what's going on," he said.
Asked whether he thought the nation's contentious political climate inspired the alleged gunman, Jared Loughner, to shoot his wife and 18 others, including six fatally, Kelly wouldn't say.
"I don't know much about this guy, Jared Lee Loughner," Kelly said. "The investigation is ongoing. I certainly cannot draw a connection between him and what his political views are and what he decided to do to my wife and murder six other people."
But Kelly did say he was disappointed in some of the rhetoric during the midterm elections.
Giffords' opponent during her most recent campaign, Republican Jesse Kelly, has been criticized for an ad for a June 12 event that read "Get on Target for Victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
'She's never gotten worse'
Kelly said he had received an invitation to attend the president's State of the Union address tonight, but declined because his wife had just relocated to Houston and appears set to begin full rehabilitation activities in the coming days.
He said Giffords' recovery so far has left him hopeful because her progress has exceeded her doctors' initial expectations.
"From the first day I walked into (University Medical Center in Tucson), they said the next 72 hours she's going to get worse and the next week she's going to get worse at some point," Kelly said. "And she's never gotten worse. From every single day she has improved."
He said he was confident in a full recovery.
"She is incredibly determined and hard-working and will do what it takes to get back to 100 percent."
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