more than getting bone back, it's a marker for where we are. >> reporter: he told me patients like giffords often need another procedure, this one to get rid of the buildup in the brain. he inserts a tube to remove the fluid in the brain and the abdominal cavity. a shunt will be in place forever. >> so people walk around with this tubing all their life? >> very small plastic tubing. it can last for the rest of their life. >> reporter: for gabby giffords, it's the end of one stage and the beginning of the next, trying to get back to the life she once knew. >> i tell you what, elizabeth cohen, just watching that i i'm still marveling at neurosurgery how they're able to go in, perfectly fit that piece? >> isn't that amazing? it's a customer maid piece. they send a cat scan to the company that makes these implants, prosthetics, and they make it to exactly fit that paetsch sneenlt do we know when her virg will be? >> we don't.