NeuroTalk Support Groups - My dad has a spinal fluid leak

A family member of mine has been suffering for a long time with a spinal fluid leak. He has had over 15 surgeries in the past five years with little success. I believe he has had a blood patch before that didnt work. He has been to a lot of different dr'sand is getting very discouraged and says he feels like giving up. He is currently at high risk for contracting meningitis, and fears for his life as do I. Just this weekend he will have drove over 800 miles just to have a University Medical center tell him that he is in the wrong place. It's like they just want to pass him off to other doctors when they realize they cannot fix him after several surgeries. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Or maybe someone else out there has had similar problems and has found a great dr. He has been told that the only way it can be fixed is to have his skull opened and brain moved to plug it. He fears that he will lose motor skills or never be the same afterwards. What are the risks of something like this? His only referral so far is a doctor in california that is out of his insurance network to perform the surgery and he is terrified of losing all he has by doing it. Does anybody have any suggestions for us? Thank you