Astronaut Mark Kelly waves to the media as he sits in an ambulance carrying Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she leaves Memorial Hermann to be transported to TIRR, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, in Houston. 
 
 U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continued a recovery on Wednesday that doctors called remarkable and "lightning speed" as she moved out of an intensive care unit and began full-time rehabilitation 18 days after a bullet ripped through the left side of her brain. 
 
 As police halted traffic and a media horde captured the scene, Giffords was moved by ambulance early Wednesday from Memorial Hermann Hospital to TIRR Memorial Hermann, just two blocks away in the Texas Medical Center. She received physical therapy after her transfer and was expected to also participate in occupational and speech therapies. 
 
 "Since Gabby arrived last Friday, we have noticed daily improvements in her neurological condition," Dr. Dong Kim, Giffords' neurosurgeon, said at an afternoon news conference Wednesday. 
 
 "We're very pleased with that. In terms of recoveries for brain issues, this is really at lightning speed." 
 
 Doctors said Giffords has shown progress in her ability to move and respond to commands, but at the request of Giffords' family they skirted around questions related to her specific capabilities. They said they had not yet tested her vision and said her speaking ability was a work in progress. 
 
 Giffords is currently not able to speak because of a tracheostomy tube in her airway that was initially installed to help her breathe, they said. Speech therapy has so far involved practicing "speech language pathology" and not actual speaking, said Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer for The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research. 
 
 "At this point I think we can say her speech function, along with everything else, has been improving quite a bit," Kim said. "It's a daily process, and we'll have to assess that over time." 
 
 Giffords is able to breathe on her own, and the size of the tracheostomy tube is being gradually reduced in a "natural process" as the skin around the tracheotomy incision recovers, said Dr. Imoigele Aisiku, director of neurocritical care at the hospital. 
 
 "She's already undergone the first process of that, and we were able to downsize that earlier this week, and that'll continue in the ensuing weeks," Aisiku said. 
 
 Decision made Tuesday 
 
 Until Wednesday Giffords was being held in a neuro-intensive care unit because excess fluid was being drained from her brain in the aftermath of a shooting outside a supermarket in Tucson, where Jared Loughner is accused of shooting her and 18 others. Six people were killed in the shooting, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. 
 
 Doctors in Tucson had installed a catheter to drain the cerebrospinal fluid. Giffords' surgeons in Houston removed the device on Monday. Late Tuesday they deemed her ready for transfer to TIRR. 
 
 Dr. John Holcomb, Giffords' trauma surgeon, said her move from intensive care to TIRR was seamless and "absolutely perfect." Doctors initially thought a move was more likely later in the week. Giffords was not brought into public view during the transition. Crews in hard hats initially hung a set of tarps around TIRR's covered entry driveway, apparently to block visibility of Giffords as she exited her ambulance, but the vehicle instead moved to a back entrance of the facility that was out of view. 
 
 'Some weakness' 
 
 Asked if there was anything about Giffords' current condition that was a cause for concern, Holcomb was optimistic. 
 
 "We worry about everything all the time, and I think that nothing really unexpected has happened, of all the things we worry about," Holcomb said. 
 
 Giffords' regimen of therapy has increased, and doctors expected her to continue to improve. 
 
 "I've already increased the therapy duration because her tolerance level has improved significantly in the last few days," said Francisco, who did not detail her daily routine. 
 
 Doctors will be paying attention to specific milestones in Giffords' progress, like her ability to sit or stand on her own, Francisco said. 
 
 Asked about reports that Giffords was paralyzed on one side of her body, Francisco said, "Some weakness, I think, would be the appropriate term. And, as my colleagues mentioned earlier, we're seeing improvements every day." 
 
 The team of five physicians called Giffords aware and responsive. They did not detail her capability to communicate or the breadth of her comprehension. 
 
 "She's very interactive with us," Aisiku said. "I can tell when I go in, and I'm examining her and so forth and she's cooperating and interacting and aware of what's going on." 
 
 'There is nobody like her' 
 
 Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has said his wife has been able to follow commands, like taking a pen and handing it back. 
 
 In an interview with the Chronicle on Monday, Kelly said he expected his wife to have a swift and full recovery "because I know her better than anybody, and she is an incredibly smart and hard working and determined person. There is nobody like her." 
 
 zain.shauk@chron.com ||||| Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' condition has been upgraded from serious to good and she could be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital Wednesday morning, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center said. 
 
 Giffords' doctors have determined she is ready to move to TIRR Memorial Hermann, where her rehabilitation will begin, Memorial Hermann said late Tuesday. The transfer was scheduled for sometime in the morning after doctors reviewed her condition again. 
 
 Giffords, 40, was shot in the forehead Jan. 8 outside an Arizona supermarket in an attack that also killed six people and wounded 12 others. 
 
 Giffords was transferred Friday to Texas from University Medical Center in Tucson, where she had been treated since the shooting. Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has been training in Houston for a space shuttle mission scheduled for April. 
 
 Giffords has been in intensive care since her arrival in Houston. Doctors said she was given a tube to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid is something everyone produces, but an injury can cause it to back up, resulting in swelling in the brain. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday evening, as President Obama delivered his State of the Union speech, Kelly watched from Giffords' bedside, holding his wife's hand. Most attending the joint session of Congress wore black-and-white lapel ribbons as a tribute to the Tucson shooting victims. The Arizona congressional delegation sat together, leaving an empty seat for Giffords. 
 
 Giffords, a Democrat, was shot when a man opened fire on the crowd that had gathered to meet with her outside the supermarket. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has been charged in the incident. 
 
 Kelly said the family had considered a number of rehabilitation facilities throughout the country, all of which could provide excellent care. 
 
 "The critical factor in this decision is that it will let me be there by her side as much as possible every single day," he said. "I don't know how long this process is going to take. If I want to address problems with our teenage children, or consider returning to work, it makes the most sense that she is at Memorial Hermann in Houston."
– Gabrielle Giffords was moved from the Houston hospital where she's been recuperating to a nearby rehabilitation facility today, after her condition was upgraded from serious to good. Police halted traffic along the route, and construction workers draped tarps around one of the rehab center's entrances to obscure Giffords' arrival, the Houston Chronicle reports. Doctors say Giffords has made "strong progress" since arriving at the intensive care unit on Friday. Last night her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, watched President Obama's State of the Union speech from Giffords' bedside, holding his wife's hand, the Los Angeles Times reports. Arizona's congressional delegation left a seat empty in tribute to their injured colleague and most lawmakers in attendance wore black-and-white lapel ribbons in memory of the victims of the Tucson shootings.