I cried happy tears when doctors removed my eye after years of pain

A Canadian doula feels more confident after getting her right eye removed in a “life-changing” surgery that followed years of pain.

Taiva Finlayson, 21, was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at just 1 year old, with the condition causing her to go blind in her right eye at age 12.

“I would cry to my doctor about this pain at every appointment and [was] told each time that there was absolutely nothing that could be done,” Finlayson, a mother of one, told Jam Press.

“I can compare the pain to getting a really bad scratch on your eye or having sand irritating your eye.”

Finlayson claims that she experienced this every day, and it never went away.

Her mom first suspected something was wrong, as Finlayson was unable to crawl or walk properly as a baby.

“Because of my diagnosis, I was put on multiple immunosuppressant drugs to control inflammation,” Finlayson explained.

“By primary school, I was experiencing blurred vision, eye pain, and light sensitivity, mainly in my right eye, but both eyes were affected.”

Doctors unsuccessfully tried to save the vision in her right eye with drops, creams and steroids.

“When you’re blind for long periods of time, your eye can begin to shrink like how a grape shrinks to a raisin,” she explained. “That is what began to happen to my right eye, and it caused excruciating pain.”

By 2019, her right eye left her in horrible agony.

Finlayson said she was unable to leave the house, put on makeup, or stay up late without feeling immense discomfort.

But in May, she was finally able to see an eye specialist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London who gave her the answer she had been looking for — an eye enucleation.

The entire eye is removed in an enucleation, according to The National Center for Biotechnology Information. The procedure also “involves the separation of all tissue connections between the globe and the orbit” of the eye.

“I actually cried tears of joy when he referred me to the surgeon because I was just so happy and ready to be out of pain,” Finlayson recalled. “I was scared for the surgery, but mostly just at peace with the fact that I was finally getting help.”

She underwent the operation on June 22. Finlayson said the worst of the pain came the first night in the hospital, but it still didn’t compare to what she experienced before surgery.

She said she has a “phobia” surrounding eyes, so the hardest part of recovery was putting in eye drops.

“I was also scared to see [the eye] open for the first time since it was stitched and swollen shut for that first week,” she shared. “After seeing it open, that initial fear vanished.”

She said that before surgery, she was extremely “self-conscious” of her right eye, as it looked “deformed” and “discolored” — but she’s pretty pleased with the results.

“I had so many people making comments that I looked so different and just so much healthier,” she gushed. “And now not only do I feel like I look better, but being pain-free has changed my entire presence and how I interact with people.”

Finlayson credits her mom; her girlfriend, Lexi, 22; and son Azraél, 3; as a great support system.

Now, she’s closely monitoring her left eye to make sure it stays healthy, as she has already experienced reduced vision in it.

She plans to get a prosthetic eye as soon as she has healed from surgery, most likely in August.

“I would make this decision over and over again as I’m only three weeks post-op and already feeling almost no pain,” Finlayson said.

“This has been life-changing, and I’m so thankful for my surgeon and everyone around me who made this possible and contributed to helping me live without chronic eye pain.”