Dear Posters~I hope you can shed some light on this for me. My mom will be 80 in August. For the last 2 yrs or so~her health has declined. It started with her legs hurting then memory loss and now headaches and insomnia. Every doc called it "mental" just because she is on SSRI's and under a physchiatrist's care. After a bad fall~the ER docs found NPH and an MRI later confirmed it. Our family is scared and baffled. She just saw a neuro-surgeon last week and he recommended shunt surgery. I asked how many he had performed and said "hundreds" but would not say how many were successful. He spent very little time with us and handed us a brochure to read and sent us on our way :(
Does anyone know what we can expect for her at age 80? How risky is this surgery? My dad~also 80 is caring for her and he is frazzled from her constant crying and discomfort. Nothing she takes for pain helps at all and her mental state is fading. Her physc put her on Aricept~I see no improvement. Any info at all would be greatly appreciated.
thanx a million~RR :)

I am moving my post up in hopes of a reply. If anyone has had NPH or knows someone who does/did, please share your experience.
thanks again~RR:)

Hi Red-Rider - I have recently been diagnosed with NPH. I am 58 years old. I researched this on-line and there was an aweful lot of information. It takes about an hour to put in a shunt. The risks are infection as well as bleeding in the brain. The shunt helps with head-aches and walking/balance. My understanding from my doctor is it wouldn't really help me with my memory loss but there were coping strategies that will help.

All the best to you and your mom.