NEW BOY. Shunt info/advice needed
 

Hello folks.
I'm looking for advice. I had 90% of a meningioma tumour removed in June2012. Recovered and released 2 month later . Remaining effects are numb left foot and fluid in head plus some lack of co-ordination and spacial awareness.. Also get dizzy and headaches when bending over and occasionally a square blue flashing in one eye lasting a few minutes Consultant is going to operate on me next week and insert a shunt(lumbar I think). After seeing a TV programme based in a Neuroscience hospital, I am concerned by some of the adverse comments and views on this procedure. Also comments on this and other medical articles.Basically, I dont want to end up with more problems than I already have. It seems alot of people suffer but if I dont have it done maybe my condition will worsen anyway.
Ive had no further seizures but would like to get rid of my floppy head and get my normal coordination etc back.
I consider myself lucky compared to some people but I dont want to push my luck.
Any help would be much appreciated. I'm 62 and live in England and was operated on at John Radcliffe Oxford where they were excellent in their care and surgery.

In my opinion (which is all I can account for), although shunts are prone to many problems, I think they can greatly improve your quality of life. I have gone 13 years without any problems before, and some have gone longer, and when I wasn't having problems, I was able to completely forget that I even had hydrocephalus. I think it is different depending on your precipitating factors (mine was bacterial meningitis) and your symptoms (headaches etc.), but for me, when my shunt is working, I can live a "normal" life. Hope this was helpful and GOOD LUCK next week! I'm rooting for you!

I'm glad that you haven't had any problems with your shunt. For me it's like every month getting a revision. I've suffered from hydrceophalus and pseudotumor cerebri since I was 2 but didn't have any symptoms until I was 9.

one of the first on the planet
 

I was one of the first people on the planet to have a shunt placed, it was for hydrocephallus. I hear about all these individuals that have had so many revisions I don't know how they keep track. I used to think I was different, I was embarrassed when I had my head shaved. I realized I am no different than anyone else. I had three revisions before I was 10, then didn't have another revision until 2006. I am a guinea pig, certain aspects do not allow doctors to always be proactive with me and have to be reactive to a point. I will say that I was recently diagnosed with epilepsy, when I asked my neurologist if the shunt had any bearing on it his response was simple, possibly, you have a foreign body in your head. All that said, I live a normal life, I was incredibly athletic and highly competitive, I played everything with reckless abandon. Any questions, I am not a doctor, however I do know a little about the shunt.