( CNN ) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recovering `` really , really well '' from surgery that implanted a synthetic bone and a shunt in her skull , her doctors said Thursday . The Arizona Democrat told her neurosurgeon that she was extremely excited to have crossed a key milestone in her recovery , which her doctors called `` almost miraculous '' considering she was shot point-blank in the head in January . `` The shunt is in good position , the implant is in good position and everything looks great , '' said Dr. Dong Kim , who performed the 3 1/2 hour-surgery to replace the part of her skull bone that was shattered and contaminated . `` She looks great , '' he said . `` I started calling her 'Gorgeous Gaby ' today . '' The shunt is expected to help Giffords improve but , Kim said , it was impossible to predict exactly how much progress she was going to make . The Arizona Democrat was shot outside a Tucson , Arizona , supermarket where she was meeting with constituents in January . Six people -- including a federal judge -- were killed and 13 others were wounded in the attack . Jared Lee Loughner stands accused in the shooting . Surgeons in Arizona had cut a hole in Giffords ' skull to give her brain space to temporarily swell . The congresswoman was later transported to Houston for further treatment and rehabilitation . Her skull could be repaired only after the swelling had subsided . Kim implanted a piece of synthetic bone specially made for the congresswoman . `` It really is a significant step . More than just getting the bone back , it is a marker for where we are '' in Giffords ' recovery , Kim said . Like many other patients with gunshot wounds to the head , Giffords has hydrocephalus , or a build-up of fluid in the brain . Kim said an internal drain , called a shunt , was inserted into Giffords ' cranial cavity to carry excess fluids from the brain to the abdominal cavity . Giffords will have to wear the shunt forever . Dr. Girard Francisco , who is in charge of Giffords ' rehabilitation , said that the congresswoman will undergo bedside rehab for at least the next two days before returning to the in-patient program at the TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Center in Houston . Giffords ' husband , Mark Kelly , the commander of the space shuttle Endeavor , has been getting updates from conversations with family . `` Everything went as planned , '' he told PBS Thursday from the International Space Station . `` Her neurosurgeons are very happy and she 's recuperating and she 's actually getting back to therapy today so it went really , really well . '' Monday , Giffords watched and cheered as the Endeavour took off on its final voyage from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida . CNN 's Elizabeth Cohen contributed to this report .
NEW : They implanted a piece of synthetic bone and also a shunt in U.S. Senator Gabrielle Giffords ' brain . NEW : The procedure drains excess fluid from her brain . She was shot in January in Phoenix , Arizona . Doctors called her progress ' almost miraculous '