Groundbreaking surgery a success, Pembroke woman recovering

An update on a story we brought you earlier this week.  It was a successful surgery for a Pembroke woman who has a rare condition.  After dealing with severe pain for almost 30 years, Sandra Lowe underwent groundbreaking surgery in Ottawa on Tuesday to deal with trigeminal nerve pain. Sandra describes the pain she’s been dealing with as debilitating and says it’s like a toothache where there’s no tooth. She says the doctors gave her two months to recover from the surgery, but she’s already noticing a significant decrease in pain.

Lowe says she’s had many invasive surgeries over the years. She says the last surgery doctors cut the nerve, but it grew back with a vengeance. Lowe says the operation she underwent on Tuesday (Feb. 11th) is called regenerative peripheral nerve interface. She says the procedure involves taking a muscle from her leg and introducing it to the nerve that’s been causing problems. This operation can be used for amputees or in situations where you need to re-route the nerve to manage the pain. Lowe encourages anyone who may suffer from an undiagnosed pain to talk about it and adds you never know when health professionals can find a solution.