NPH Surgery And Help

Before the shunt surgery, Lee Sager was not walking at all.  She suffered from memory loss and speech problems.  “I would lose my thought in the middle of a sentence,” she explains.  In her younger days, she was a writer for a New Jersey newspaper.

Sager was under the care of Dr. Julie Schwatzbard, a neurologist in Aventura, FL who was treating her for neuropathy.  One day, Sager stood up in the doctor’s office and almost fell on top of the doctor.  A brain scan at the hospital showed hydrocephalus (excess fluid in the ventricles of the brain).

Together with her daughter, Sager went to see Dr. Osborn.  “He was so kind and caring and took the time to answer every question that I had,” she says.  Three days later she was operated on.  Two weeks later she was walking with a cane.

“Almost immediately, I was on my feet again,” recalls Sager.  She believes that if she had waited longer or gone undetected, she would have had permanent brain damage.  She credits Dr. Schwartzbard for detecting the condition and Dr. Osborn for curing her.  Before the surgery, her handwriting and memory were terrible.  “Now I can write a letter again in my own handwriting,” she says.  If not detected early, she thinks she could have been in a wheelchair indefinitely.

“It’s a choice you have to make,” notes Sager.  The surgical procedure takes about 90 minutes.  The shunt is checked every two months, which is done externally.  “They really saved my life.”

“Dr. Osborn saved my life,” says Abraham Preiss, who underwent the shunt implantation that would drain away the excess fluid from his brain. “Before the surgery, I could not stand on my legs.”

Based on Mr. Preiss’ symptoms, his primary care physician, Dr. Cohen, recommended that he see Dr. Osborn. A CAT scan of the brain was performed and showed excess fluid in the ventricles, indicating Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). Dr. Osborn explained the diagnosis to Preiss and his sons and how the shunt system he would implant could allow Preiss to make a full recovery. Preiss understood that the fluid from the brain is redirected to the stomach, where it can be eliminated.

About two months ago, Preiss underwent the surgical procedure. It took about three to four weeks, including rehabilitation, and now Preiss says he is “a new man.” He pronounces it “a miracle.”

Preiss says the operation at Aventura Hospital went without a hitch. The rehabilitation process was the most difficult. Now Preiss is walking and talking normally.

“Dr. Osborn made a new man out of him,” says Preiss nurse’s aide. “Before the surgery Abraham was very confused and not able to walk. He was in a wheelchair. Now he is talking and walking.” In the house, he walks unaided. When he goes to the mall, they take his walker just in case. Preiss says, “You don’t even see any scars.”