A woman is sharing her continuous battle with her eye – and claims that it was due to rupture mere moments after having it removed.
When Michelle Timms started experiencing constant and chronic pain in her left eye again, after years of battling with her lifelong condition, she was left with no choice but to remove the organ.
The 33-year-old, who was born with Marfan Syndrome, had been classed as legally blind for 17 years until she underwent “miracle” lens implant surgeries in October and November 2012, which gave her vision back.
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Sadly, seven years later, the new lens in her eye dislocated and the artist was left dealing with an excruciating battle.
In a bid to raise awareness for her condition and to show people how to cope with losing an important part of the body, Michelle is now sharing her story.
“I was terrified of losing my vision completely,” she told Need To Know.
“I never would have thought I’d one day be begging doctors to remove my eye.
“The pain was worse than anything else I had ever experienced.
“Any kind of body or eye movement made both my eye and head throb.
“It was constantly watering, which made my skin raw – and, at some points, I felt as though I was being stabbed from inside my eyeball.”
Michelle, from Ontario, Canada, had to sleep with a plastic eye patch each night due to the high risk of her eye rupturing.
She also began experiencing constant double vision, which worsened her vertigo and migraines, making daily life a challenge.
In July 2023, she met with a surgeon to discuss her options, especially due to her aforementioned condition.
Marfan Syndrome is an inherited disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue and it mostly affects the heart, lungs, eyes, blood vessels and skeleton.
As her retina had detached, a “gas bubble” was injected into her eye to hold this in place – but this quickly slipped in front of her lens implant and sat in front of her eye, making the ordeal even more unbearable.
While doctors were hesitant at first about removing her eye, the artist knew that this was the only option left.
She said: “My eye looked bulgy and pretty messed up.
“It made me feel deformed and ugly.
“He [the surgeon] wanted me to go home, think harder about it and discuss it with my family.
“I told him I had thought about this, spoken with my family, done my research and this is what needed to happen.
“He then agreed to book my surgery.
“I had no doubt in my mind that this was what I wanted and what needed to happen.”
Michelle says the thought of another invasive procedure brought a lot of anxiety – but the fear of not knowing what would happen if she didn’t go through with it took over.
Michelle said: “I felt as if I was barely living, but now, I finally had some hope.
“When I woke up, my face and head were numb and I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted.
“I no longer had the stabbing pains or throbbing headaches.
“My surgeon also told me that the outer layer of my eye had been hanging on by a few cells and it could have ruptured at any moment.
“This would have meant sudden, excruciating pain, a trip to the ER, and emergency removal surgery.”
Michelle is now living life in the way that she once dreamed about and is coming to terms with the loss through experimenting with “fun” prosthetics – including rainbow, glow-in-the-dark and galaxy designs.
She has her remaining eye regularly checked, but due to her condition, this could also be affected in future.
For now, she’s raising awareness and educating others.
She added: “For many people, losing their eye would be a huge adjustment.
“For me, I couldn’t see out of it for a couple of years already, and it was only causing me pain.
“But now, I feel like myself again — even better.
“The possibility of becoming one hundred per cent blind in the future is real.
“I worry about it often, but try to remain positive.
“I know if I were to become fully blind, it would be quite difficult – but I know I’d make it through, as I have a great support system of family and friends around me.
“For now, I’m just happy to be out of that pain and to be able to move on with my life instead of being stuck at home in the dark.
“People with Marfan Syndrome and other chronic illnesses are also often labelled as lazy [due to the pain] when that’s not the case.
“Trust me, we are trying.”
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