Giffords’s Husband Faces Decision on Shuttle Flight.

[elleng]

As Representative Gabrielle Giffords settles into a rehabilitation hospital in Houston, a major question remains for her husband, the astronaut Mark E. Kelly: Will he fly or not?

Captain Kelly, a Navy officer who flew 39 combat missions in the Persian Gulf war, is scheduled to fly the shuttle Endeavour on a two-week mission to the International Space Station in April.

With his wife at the beginning of a long and arduous rehabilitation program to recover from a gunshot wound to the head, Captain Kelly and his bosses at NASA will have to determine whether he can maintain the training regimen in the weeks leading up to the launching and command the mission.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30kelly.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

[dipsydoodle]

1. If it was me I'd stay with her

and I'm guessing he will make that same decision too.

[Lucinda]

2. If he were my husband, I would want him to go

I hated watching my fella sit for weeks in the hospital when I was in the last time.

I'll be surprised if he does, but I think he should.

[Maru Kitteh]

3. That is EXACTLY what I was going to say!

How many people get the kind of chance he has? I'd feel guilty forever if my hubby set aside something so rare and precious to sit in my hospital room.

Hell. If my husband had an opportunity like that, I'd leave express instructions to miss my funeral if he had to.

[pnwmom]

5. Head injuries are very different from other injuries.

The emotional connection, and shared memories, he has with her could be extremely important in her recovery.

[glinda]

6. Think your answer is the best. I am with you on this.

[pnwmom]

8. I knew someone with a head injury less serious than hers.

It was a very long, hard road back and her family members were intimately involved.

[glinda]

12. Yes. I helped my cousin through brain surgery. I know.

[blaze]

9. That was my question/concern as well

And I guess only the doctors and family can know for sure where she is in her recovery and how important his presence is.

[pnwmom]

10. And what spouse doesn't worry when his or her husband goes up in space?

She doesn't need that now.

[blondeatlast]

13. True. Kelly has a heart-wrenching decision; there will be regrets either way

he chooses.

[JI7]

4. i would want him to go also , especialy since it's only 2 weeks

and he could tell her about it when he gets back .

[pnwmom]

7. He should stay home. She needs him in her recovery --

recovering from a head injury isn't like recovering from anything else. Interacting with loved ones is an important part of the therapy.

His going away -- and not on an ordinary plane flight but on a space mission, with all of the attendant risks -- would just add to her stress.

[SharonAnn]

11. I wouldn't even begin to second-guess. It's their/his/her decision.

I'm sure he'll make the decision he thinks is the right one for them.

[blondeatlast]

14. Exactly, and he will have regrets either way. He'll make the best choice, of that much

I am certain.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. Fly. If he'd been injured I wouldn't expect her to quit congress. n/t

[pnwmom]

16. The question isn't whether he should quit the service.

And if he'd been the one to get shot in the line of duty, no one would criticize her for staying with him as much as possible.