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Doctors: Rescued POW not stabbed or shotFirst surgeries go 'very, very well'
LANDSTUHL, Germany (CNN) -- Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued this week from an Iraqi hospital where she was being held prisoner, was not shot or stabbed as previously reported, her doctors said Friday. Col. David Rubenstein, a spokesman for Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, told reporters Friday, "While the mechanism of injury is still unclear at this point, the most recent evaluations by our staff do not suggest that any of her wounds were caused by either gunshots or stabbing injuries." Rubenstein said Lynch's injuries included fractures to her right arm, both legs, right foot and ankle and lumbar spine. He said Lynch also sustained a head laceration. Rubenstein told reporters Lynch underwent several surgeries to stabilize her injuries, including spinal surgery on Thursday. He also said Lynch was scheduled to have some orthopedic procedures done on Friday. "These surgeries have gone very, very well," he said. Rubenstein said Lynch's doctors felt she would improve with time, but that she would "require extensive rehabilitative services." Rubenstein said he could not say if Lynch's injuries were sustained during the ambush to her unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, on March 23 or while she was in Iraqi custody. He did say that she was being debriefed by repatriation teams that would provide medical and psychological care for as long as she needs it. Due to her injuries, the colonel said, Lynch is being fed intravenously, but she will be provided regular food "as soon as it is medically indicated." The former prisoner of war already has provided the staff with a list of her favorite foods, including turkey, applesauce and steamed carrots, Rubenstein said. Lynch has been in constant communication with her family, he said, including her grandmother, whom she called less than an hour after she arrived at Landstuhl.
Lynch's parents, he said, receive additional information from her health care treatment team. Rubenstein told reporters that when Lynch is awake, "She is in good spirits." "Her emotional state is extremely good," he said. He said she was talking with staff and "joking with a soldier, who accompanied her [to Landstuhl] from her unit." When asked by reporters if Lynch has said anything about the care she received while in Iraqi captivity, Rubenstein said that doctors have not discussed that with her. "Our focus has been on taking care of her needs here and now," he said. "That, I'm sure, will come out during the discussions that will follow her surgical medical care."
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