heather
hi...although in my situation the shunt was placed in my child,i can tell you if his health was semi-normal and you would like his life to be prolonged at all--let them put shunt in. the water on the brain more than likely has enlarged the ventricles--and that can cause further complications. the shunt if patients body can tolerate it-will drain the excess fluid and in time the ventricles may go back to normal size. my son is 4 and has had a shunt since birth...it wasnt until just this past month that the neuros have told me that the water on the brain no longer exsists and the ventricles have all gone back down to normal size. when he was first born and i researched shunts and hydro alike i was amazed to find that shunts were more common in the elderly. i am not sure of the success rate and im definately not a dr.--just giving my two cents!! good luck!!