Hello everyone. This is my first post here. My son Adrain is 8 yrs old and he has been a very healthy and athletic child. On Tuesday May 10th, when me and my wife woke him to get dressed for school, we noticed that he couldn't stand on his own. He fell forward and began to roll around. We thought my son was joking around with us until we noticed that his eyes were very twitchy. my son then told us that he couldn't stand on his own. At this point, we drove him to the hospital and they began to run tests on him. Catscan revealed a cist on the front left portion of his brain. Later revealed to be an arachnoid cist(about the size of an egg maybe a little smaller).

My son was taken to a pediatric neurosurgeon in San Antonio and he recommended a shunt. My question is...Will my son live a normal life? Will my boy have bad side effects? I've read that some people get extreme nausea and throw up. I also hear that some people get headaches. I know that he will never be able to play any contact sports, but he loves to play baseball? Baseball is his favorite game. Will he be able to play baseball? Will the shunt be very visible? Are there other alternatives other than a shunt that are safe?

I'm sorry for all the questions, but my wife and I want nothing but the best for our boy. Quite frankly, we are very scared. Please shed some light. Thanks