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CNN Live Today
Interview With Greg Argyros
Aired July 22, 2003 - 11:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we want to focus on what has happened at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where Jessica Lynch has spent more than three months there, recuperating and getting some treatment.
You're here seeing pictures of what happened there moments ago when she choppered her way out of there to head back to her home in West Virginia. That's the helicopter that we believe that Jessica Lynch actually boarded. And I believe it's a Black Hawk and she's now going to be -- she's in the air right now, on her way back to Elizabeth, West Virginia for all those ceremonies there.
Now Dr. Greg Argyros led the team of doctors that oversaw Lynch's treatment. And Dr. Argyros joins us now from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Doctor, you've got to be -- you look awfully proud at this particular moment. And I have to think you've got to be proud of you and your staff and all that you've all been able to do to contribute to this moment.
DR. GREG ARGYROS, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: We're very proud. Private lynch has done a terrific job during her time here at Walter Reed. And it's been a terrific team of nurses, occupational and physical therapists, nutritionists, and mental health professionals and physicians who have cared for her over these last three months.
But the most important part of the team has been Private Lynch herself. She's been an inspiration to all of us. And I think America's excited to see her, will be very excited to see here this afternoon at 2:00.
HARRIS: Well, Doctor -- tell us Dr. Argyros, what are we going to see when we see her this morning? We have not had the privilege of seeing her and seeing what kind of condition she's in right now. We've heard so much about the kinds of injuries that she's sustained. None of us have ever seen her get up and walk, or none of us have heard her talk. What is it we'll see when we see her this afternoon?
ARGYROS: Well, I believe that the plan is for her to use her wheelchair up to the ramp that she's going to take up to the podium. And then she's going to use her walker to assist her getting to the podium. She uses the walker for short distances. She uses the wheelchair for longer distances. She's beginning to be trained using the crutches but she will not be using those today.
And I believe she has a prepared statement that she is going to read whenever she arrives up in West Virginia. She left the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and exit Forest Glen at 10:30 this morning.
HARRIS: So i assume that -- it sounds like you've not gotten any kind of hint as to what she's going to be saying in her statement this afternoon.
ARGYROS: No, I'm not aware of what exactly she's going to be saying at that time.
HARRIS: Let me ask you more about her condition, though. Is she going to be in any kind of pain? And if she is, for how long do you think?
ARGYROS: It's difficult to guess on how long she will be in pain. As her bones continue to recover and she continues to increase her exercise program as part of her rehabilitation, she's going to be sore just like anybody would whenever they start up and continue through an exercise program.
But it would -- our impression and our anticipation will be, over time, that the pain will decrease just as it does with anyone who is involved in an exercise program.
HARRIS: Can you tell us anything at all, Doctor, about her memory? There's been so many reports about her having significant memory loss, not being able to remember what happened to her in the hospital, what happened to her after the ambush. Have you had any signs at all that any of her memories have come back to her? And do you expect they ever will?
ARGYROS: At this time, we have no evidence that she has any memory whatsoever from the time of the ambush until the time that she woke up in the Iraqi hospital. All the time period up to the ambush she recalls every aspect of things from that time period. And she also remembers everything from the time she woke up in the Iraqi hospital.
Whether or not she will be able to remember that time period from the time of the ambush until the time she woke up in the future is unknown at this time. There is a chance that she could do that. But it's impossible to predict whether that's going to come in any short time period or if at all.
HARRIS: You know, Doctor, we've been talking about how life has changed and is going to be changing for some time now for the folks in West Virginia when she does go back home.
But how about there at your staff there at the hospital? I got to think that with all this scrutiny and all the attention that's been paid to both her and her story, and the folks there at the hospital with their work with having -- helping to bring her back, there had to be a lot of bonding going on there. How do things change for you and your staff there?
ARGYROS: Well, the important thing to remember is the number of casualties that we've had come in at Walter Reed is well over 650. And we continue to have plane loads come in every day. And the team approach that we took in caring for Private Lynch is the same team approach we take in caring for all of the casualties and all of our patients at Walter Reed.
While we certainly are going to miss her, because of the close relationship we had with her and her family, we developed that same kind of relationship with all of our patients, particularly those that stay for a prolonged time period. And we are certainly going to miss seeing them every day, but she and her family will be coming back on -- at regular times for checkups just to make sure that her rehabilitation is progressing nicely.
HARRIS: All right, finally, Doctor, real quickly, I want to ask you about all the controversy that -- about the changing story, about what happened to her and the rescue and everything, all that involved. Did your care for her include protecting her from those stories? Is she aware of all the controversy that's been brewing over all that?
ARGYROS: She's aware of it completely. She watches TV, she reads the newspaper, read magazines. And any press release that's come out about her, our public affairs office has provide to her to read. So her family and Private Lynch are avid readers, and they're fully aware of all of the controversy surrounding the rescue of Private Lynch from the hospital.
But the thing that they're focusing on right now is the same thing that the medical staff has been focusing on for her entire time here, and that is her rehabilitation, her recovery from her injuries. And that's going to be the focus whenever she gets back to West Virginia.
And it's going to be important to allow her the time and space to allow her to continue her rehabilitation, because that's going to be critical in ensuring the greatest chance of long-term success of her returning back to completely full function.
HARRIS: Dr. Greg Argyros, thank you very much. We sure do appreciate you coming out sharing with us. And congrats to you and your staff. And thanks for bearing with us with all the traffic up there behind you. I can tell it looks like the lunch rush hour is beginning up there outside the medical center. Take care.
ARGYROS: You're very welcome. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 22, 2003 - 11:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we want to focus on what has happened at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where Jessica Lynch has spent more than three months there, recuperating and getting some treatment.
You're here seeing pictures of what happened there moments ago when she choppered her way out of there to head back to her home in West Virginia. That's the helicopter that we believe that Jessica Lynch actually boarded. And I believe it's a Black Hawk and she's now going to be -- she's in the air right now, on her way back to Elizabeth, West Virginia for all those ceremonies there.
Now Dr. Greg Argyros led the team of doctors that oversaw Lynch's treatment. And Dr. Argyros joins us now from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Doctor, you've got to be -- you look awfully proud at this particular moment. And I have to think you've got to be proud of you and your staff and all that you've all been able to do to contribute to this moment.
DR. GREG ARGYROS, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: We're very proud. Private lynch has done a terrific job during her time here at Walter Reed. And it's been a terrific team of nurses, occupational and physical therapists, nutritionists, and mental health professionals and physicians who have cared for her over these last three months.
But the most important part of the team has been Private Lynch herself. She's been an inspiration to all of us. And I think America's excited to see her, will be very excited to see here this afternoon at 2:00.
HARRIS: Well, Doctor -- tell us Dr. Argyros, what are we going to see when we see her this morning? We have not had the privilege of seeing her and seeing what kind of condition she's in right now. We've heard so much about the kinds of injuries that she's sustained. None of us have ever seen her get up and walk, or none of us have heard her talk. What is it we'll see when we see her this afternoon?
ARGYROS: Well, I believe that the plan is for her to use her wheelchair up to the ramp that she's going to take up to the podium. And then she's going to use her walker to assist her getting to the podium. She uses the walker for short distances. She uses the wheelchair for longer distances. She's beginning to be trained using the crutches but she will not be using those today.
And I believe she has a prepared statement that she is going to read whenever she arrives up in West Virginia. She left the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and exit Forest Glen at 10:30 this morning.
HARRIS: So i assume that -- it sounds like you've not gotten any kind of hint as to what she's going to be saying in her statement this afternoon.
ARGYROS: No, I'm not aware of what exactly she's going to be saying at that time.
HARRIS: Let me ask you more about her condition, though. Is she going to be in any kind of pain? And if she is, for how long do you think?
ARGYROS: It's difficult to guess on how long she will be in pain. As her bones continue to recover and she continues to increase her exercise program as part of her rehabilitation, she's going to be sore just like anybody would whenever they start up and continue through an exercise program.
But it would -- our impression and our anticipation will be, over time, that the pain will decrease just as it does with anyone who is involved in an exercise program.
HARRIS: Can you tell us anything at all, Doctor, about her memory? There's been so many reports about her having significant memory loss, not being able to remember what happened to her in the hospital, what happened to her after the ambush. Have you had any signs at all that any of her memories have come back to her? And do you expect they ever will?
ARGYROS: At this time, we have no evidence that she has any memory whatsoever from the time of the ambush until the time that she woke up in the Iraqi hospital. All the time period up to the ambush she recalls every aspect of things from that time period. And she also remembers everything from the time she woke up in the Iraqi hospital.
Whether or not she will be able to remember that time period from the time of the ambush until the time she woke up in the future is unknown at this time. There is a chance that she could do that. But it's impossible to predict whether that's going to come in any short time period or if at all.
HARRIS: You know, Doctor, we've been talking about how life has changed and is going to be changing for some time now for the folks in West Virginia when she does go back home.
But how about there at your staff there at the hospital? I got to think that with all this scrutiny and all the attention that's been paid to both her and her story, and the folks there at the hospital with their work with having -- helping to bring her back, there had to be a lot of bonding going on there. How do things change for you and your staff there?
ARGYROS: Well, the important thing to remember is the number of casualties that we've had come in at Walter Reed is well over 650. And we continue to have plane loads come in every day. And the team approach that we took in caring for Private Lynch is the same team approach we take in caring for all of the casualties and all of our patients at Walter Reed.
While we certainly are going to miss her, because of the close relationship we had with her and her family, we developed that same kind of relationship with all of our patients, particularly those that stay for a prolonged time period. And we are certainly going to miss seeing them every day, but she and her family will be coming back on -- at regular times for checkups just to make sure that her rehabilitation is progressing nicely.
HARRIS: All right, finally, Doctor, real quickly, I want to ask you about all the controversy that -- about the changing story, about what happened to her and the rescue and everything, all that involved. Did your care for her include protecting her from those stories? Is she aware of all the controversy that's been brewing over all that?
ARGYROS: She's aware of it completely. She watches TV, she reads the newspaper, read magazines. And any press release that's come out about her, our public affairs office has provide to her to read. So her family and Private Lynch are avid readers, and they're fully aware of all of the controversy surrounding the rescue of Private Lynch from the hospital.
But the thing that they're focusing on right now is the same thing that the medical staff has been focusing on for her entire time here, and that is her rehabilitation, her recovery from her injuries. And that's going to be the focus whenever she gets back to West Virginia.
And it's going to be important to allow her the time and space to allow her to continue her rehabilitation, because that's going to be critical in ensuring the greatest chance of long-term success of her returning back to completely full function.
HARRIS: Dr. Greg Argyros, thank you very much. We sure do appreciate you coming out sharing with us. And congrats to you and your staff. And thanks for bearing with us with all the traffic up there behind you. I can tell it looks like the lunch rush hour is beginning up there outside the medical center. Take care.
ARGYROS: You're very welcome. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
