well that is a hard one, what surgery would they be doing? and also what dose your doctor think about your time line dose he think you have enough time to lose weight to see if that would help or is it more dire then that?

Hi. I am not sure about this. It all sounds a bit drastic and a bit too quick.
Of course I am not a dr, but I have paps for 3 years now. I havnt really lost all that much sight. Peripheral vision yes, but I think that came from the year I was first misdiagnosed and not getting the correct treatment.
Since then, with the meds and shunt(kinda of) any other sight I lost was not permanent.
So, slow down a bit. You need some time to gather as much information as you can before you make up your mind.


I always felt my surgery for a shunt was a bit rushed.Diagnosed in Sept and had surgery in late Nov. I think, they didn't know what to do next as I was not responding to the meds.
But...did they give it enough time?
A shunt, is permanent.You need to weigh up the pros and cons,and there are many for both.

Could you get a second opinion from another NO? Or a Ophthalmologist?

I do know that, ultimatly, the shunt did save my sight but with hind sight, I would have waitied a lot longer to jump to that point.
Some thing to think about,I still have paps. thats after meds and a shunt.Now, they are so much better than they were but will a shunt lower your pressure enought to help heal the paps?
Mine didnt.
Of course, this is my story amd not yours. But a small bit of caution, second opnion and more info , from us. Then make up your mind.
I think this is a bit over the palce. Sorry" My concentration is not great the last few weeks. I hope you are able to pull out what I was trying to say. Cath.

Hugs and prayers headed your way! That sounds pretty drastic to me as well. Maybe asking for a consult appointment with the doctor and sitting down with a list of questions for them...like WHY do you want to move so quickly with the surgery...what are the pro's and con's? I always bring someone with me when I go to the doctors...I find that its helpful. Keep your chin up.

I completely agree with everyone here, don't feel rushed into this surgery. I also have 20/20 vision in my bad eye....and better than perfect in the other.(can read the bottom line) I was never even told I had swelling...i so wish that I would have found this site back before I was rushed to make a decision for surgery. I was also told if I lost weight I would get better, but I guess the headache had wore me down and I could no longer fight to lose the weight and surgery sounded like the easier route to no headaches. I met my NS and had a vp shunt placed 4 weeks later. This shunt worked well and took care of my problems until it failed in October, so they replaced the whole thing...I never felt better after that one, I think it was infected and it pulled out of my stomach cavity so in November my husband NS and I decided the best decision for me right now would be to take it out and see how I do. Now I'm not saying that if I would have researched more i would have never had the surgery...but wish I would have researched more so that I would have felt I made the best choice. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you make this decision. Just listen to your body as well as the experts.

I completely understand that this is going to be a tough decision for you. How do you feel when you work out? I'm asking because I have been trying to lose weight for 3 years and every time i begin to work out I have to be on bed rest for days after because the of the pressure headaches. Weight loss is for me has been a struggle. So i would suggest that if you feel up to it start working out and see how much weight you lose. You really might start feeling better after a few weeks. Good luck and let us know what decision you decide to make.

Ditto on not rushing into anything. I am just recovering from VP shunt surgery and it is nothing to take lightly. Please get another opinion and keep us posted. Best of luck!

Sherry :)

This type of decision should not be rushed. BUT I do want to be real and let you know your vision can change (pardon the pun) in the blink of an eye. My daughter went completely blind in matter of three days and unfortunately, stayed that way in hositpal for two weeks. She had an LP after the third day, as they were trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Her opening pressure was 76. For us this was completely out of the blue! She regained some of her vision but it is damaged forever now. She just had the eye fenestration surgery you are talking about because her optic discs started to swell again. I wanted to do it without much consideration because the last I wanted to happen was for her to go blind again literally overnight and the next time it might not have ever come back. If you have the time to lose the weight, I say work on that. If you feel that your vision is at stake, do what you need to do to save what you have...then you can lose the weight to see if you can relieve some of your other symptoms. God bless you and I hope you make a decision that is right for you. It's not easy! xoxo

Thanks all yes I agree with each and everyone of u! This is all happening a bit to fast! Well Ucsf called me and said that I will be having surgery this Thursday for the lp shunt...he said it was an emergency to do it...hope all goes well for myself and every one on this site, and in this world tthat's dealing with this

Hoping all goes well for you. But one question... if they're worried about your vision, why a shunt and not the optic nerve sheath fenestration? The optic nerve sheath fenestration is designed to preserve (and sometimes reverse) the damage to your vision, and help keep symptoms at bay. While I am losing weight as well, both my neuro and my ophthalmologist were slow to go to shunt surgery. My ophthalmologist was concerned about my vision, and I just had the optic nerve sheath fenestration 3 weeks ago, and my doctor is confident is was successful in relieving the pressure to my optic nerves.

Now, I've worn glasses for 20 years anyways , but my vision was at least stable until the PTC. I was losing peripherial vision only, but my ophthalmologist thought if we waited much longer to do surgery, it might not be reversible. I go back next week to insure swelling went down. Really wasn't bad at all, and it bought me time to lose the weight.

I know every situation is different, and I was just curious about yours. Wishing you the best. :)

Good luck with the surgery you are in my prayer!

Thanks ash, u too! its crazy cuz were having it done at the same place a day apart! lol best wishes to u too girl!

I agree.....th ONSF surg would be best! My NO dr told me today he does not do and believe in shunts. I do wish u luck. Maybe think of a 2nd opinion??