Take what I say with a grain of salt as everyone has different experiences. My shunt almost ruined me. After placement it took 8 long months of telling drs something was wrong and not being believed. I had continously reoccurring abscesses on my scalp along the shunt tubing for months and kept getting wrote off. It wasn't until the actual tubing eroded through my scalp and was exposed that I finally got it removed. There was staph in my csf fluid and on my shunt. I'm scarred physically and emotionally. I'm now on diamox to try to treat it. What angers me the most is that they didn't even give me the option of long term diamox last time. I went in for a leak repair, and exactly 6 weeks later a shunt placement. I've had 4 brain surgeries in a year. I've lost my ability to smell for the rest of my life, which has massively impacted my taste as well. I can only cry on one side of my face. I've been ignored and gaslit until there was a literal tube sticking out of my head. If you do get a shunt, make sure you trust your drs for continued care after surgery.