hey, my neurosurgeon wants to perform a shunt operation... of those that has had it, how long did the surgery take? how long was the hospital stay? how long before you felt ok? I am 47 y/o and just found out that I have spina bifida, meningecele and hydrocephalus. hydrocephalus giving the most trouble. any info would be greatly appreciated. I should have asked the dr, but was dealing with so much info at once that these questions sort of slipped by.

I have the "shuffle" when I walk, can't walk/stand long, headaches, nausea, sleep attacks, vision issues, balance issues, some behavior and cognitive issues, urinary issues... not working and really want my "life" back.

I can't help you with the shunt operation info but your post caught my eye. I was told a few years ago that I had spina bifida but the doc said it wouldn't affect me at all. I had completely forgotten about it. A lot of your symptoms are similar to mine but I also have GI problems and was diagnosed with crohns disease. I'm now getting severe headaches and a lot of the same symptoms you describe. A ct-scan showed parietal and frontal lesions so an mri was done and it confirmed the ct finding. The opinion given on the mri was small vessel microangiopathic disease (no idea what this really is) and the differential was migraines, hypertension or vasculitis. It said the pattern is not typical for ms. My neuro is off on medical leave so I'm waiting to get back into him. I'm wondering if maybe the spina bifida is actually causing some of my symptoms. How are you doing now?