;-) the emoticon for MG (semi-colon dash left-parenthesis).
Yeah--I had trouble keeping my left eyelid open. I wore an eye patch mostly because of the double vision problem, I did alternate it as I wanted both eyes to keep working.

I think you might patch the strong eye at times and use duct tape to keep the other one open (yes--duct tape as you can tell by the name is especially designed for use with the eyes ;-)

Strabimus in youngsters with plastic brains leads to amblyopia but in adults with hardened concrete brains it leads to diplopia.

I got several pairs of cheap (but excellent) glasses from zennioptical and put frosted tape over one eye on one pair and the other eye on the other pair and switched pairs regularly. Better than the eyepatches, but, of course, not as glamorous ;)

The doctor did not say anything to me about keeping the eye open.

Yeah, I usually wear it for double vision, but now I've got a different problem - my double vision is largely corrected! The problem now is that with the ptosis remaining in my right eye, and my eyes finally pointing in the same direction, the pupil of the right eye just follows the pupil of the left eye, even if that means it goes under my eyelid a ways! For some reason, when that happens, my right eye wants to close as if it's "sleepy", like your eyelid going a little over your pupil is a cue to sleep or something. If I patch it completely, it doesn't want to close completely like this and I can leave it as open as it wants to be without that "sleepy" sensation taking it over. So I think wearing this patch might maybe help it maintain it's tone and thus show faster signs of improvement.

It's kind-of strange that ptosis seems to be something that doctors don't have much to say about as far as when it's temporary like this. A few weeks ago I asked an opthalmologist about those "crutch glasses" you see mentioned every so often and he spoke of them as if they were something people didn't bother with anymore...it seems to me they'd be pretty helpful, even if you could use some tape instead.

I tried some tape once and it worked better than I thought it would...I wanted to go easy on my skin and used that light paper bandage tape and saw some help with it.

A mixed bag of possibilities, isn't it - with drooping eyes and eyelids.
For me, in the time right after the diagnosis of MG? I was told that resting the eyes (closed) - and low-dose prednisone would take care of things. And that combination did work, 95% of the time. (I often thought about an eye patch, but never did try one. Probably should have.)
When I recovered from my recent MG crisis, enough to leave the hospital: after much Infusion-Therapy and also on much higher doses of Prednisone?
My drooping eye and eyelid probably had 99.5% disappeared. I was also - much less sensitive to sunlight or bright light.
We MG Snowflakes face a double-whammy, with eye problems, problems of which we may not always be conscious.
Not only do we often lack the neuromuscular ability to keep our eyes open?
But we often lack the neuromuscular ability to keep our eyes tightly shut, as well - even during sleep. The result - is that we can sometimes have chronically dry eyes - and not be aware of the reason. I had Ellen check this out for me? Yup - when I am otherwise in a sound sleep, even snoring away? My eyes are often not completely closed. - Ross

... which is a little bit spooky to someone watching you, having open eyes while snoring away ...

I just thought that I would leave a crafters tip on here for the trick with the tape on the glasses. You can get the same affect with glass etch paint at your local craft store and it would be a lot nicer looking at least. It's basically a spray paint that makes the glass look frosted. With some effort it could be scratched off, so it isn't permanent but you would have to work pretty hard to get it off. So if you have two pair of glasses (as you mentioned earlier) frost one side on one pair and the opposite side on the other.

These would be your "fancy" glasses. hehehe

Okay now that I've said that I realize that I have all of these great ideas stuck in my head and don't have the energy or strength to accomplish them. LOL You could do it all while sitting down if you got someone else to get the cap off of the spray can and push the button down for you.

OR better yet.....

If you have a nice friend that is handy you might ask them to do it for you in exchange for beer and pizza.

First of all Russ great MG emoticon!

I thought I would list a place that has the crutch glasses in case anyone is interested.

http://eyeglassrepair.net/_wsn/page3.html

Ross's comments about dry eyes and not being able to keep them open or closed reminded me that years before my problems escalated eye doctors were telling me I had incomplete closure of the eyes when I blink. Now I wonder if that was an early warning signal. I do have to use restasis for dry eyes.

So far my double vision and eye problems happen mainly in the late evening when I am over tired or I have misjudged how much mestinon I need. I often also have leg tremor and other symptoms like difficulty walking at the same time and weak arms. Usually I am able to just go to bed and when I wake up rested the problem is gone.

Angie, I think the pizza and beer party is a great idea. We can all bring extra glasses and paints and have at it! Marie