I'm so sorry! I haven't been here for about a week and just saw this. I'm just a well-read lifelong hydro patient (41 yo), and I can't answer your questions definitively, but I do know that the effect of each surgery is cumulative. I have had six myself, along with some complications here and there. It sounds like, in addition to having a much rougher start early in life (I was born on my due date), he has had many more problems with hydro (including many more surgeries) than I have. I live fairly normally, with some extra effort, but someone who has been through much more, even though much younger, is going to have a harder time with day to day functioning and, yes, possibly even an abbrieviated life expectancy. I can only say, as an educated guess, that the loss of gray matter will result in deterioration, but this is a question for his nsg. He may not know, either, but all of us are just patients and family members. I want to give you hope--really--but you need to talk to his doctors who know his history.


Good luck...

LIZARD