My mam has recently been diagnosed with dementia following a brain injury..she also has hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Any advice?

My father had water on the brain. He only had very mild memory issues, until they put a shunt in. The morning after the surgery, he worriedly said, "I don't think I'm going to be alright." He started spiraling down into major dementia within days. I'm just putting that out there - a shunt might make existing dementia a lot worse.

Are they planning to do anything about the hydrocephalus, like put in a shunt? NPH or normal pressure hydrocephalus can produce dementia-like symptoms. Once you get the pressure off the brain, the person can go back to normal behavior.

My neighbor had that and had the shunt put in. He went from a wheelchair to normal function.

Here's the piece that 60 Minutes did on it some years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0CZh_X-vM

I didn't think of this until reading your post and FF's response, but I now recall that in Michigan there are two institutes that specifically deal with TBIs. One is a rehab institute that also addresses other complex injuries and the other is specifically a neuro medical practice.

You might ask her neurologist if TBI induced dementia would be something that therapy could treat; it's worth a try.

(I also remember that decades ago one of my relatives worked at such an institute, and spoke of the remedial activities created for those who had suffered a TBI.)

Avrilon, my Mom had something similar. She had fall which resulted in a serious head injury which accelerated dementia in her case. Prior to the fall she was doing pretty good mind-wise for her very advanced age. But falls can be major game changers.

If the injury was recent, there will be side effects for awhile. Some side effects will eventually heal themselves, others won't.

Best to ask your Mom's doctor what progress should the family expect, if any. Each case is different. Hope for the best for your Mom.