Another effect of surgery was to give me permanent double vision. During the 2017 operation I got permanent double vision in the right upper quadrant, but this was no hindrance to normal life (apart from contributing to my inability to drive again). I simply avoided looking to the right.
Now, however, the double vision was everywhere. The simplest expedient was to keep one eye closed all the time. Since my right eye was compromised anyway, thanks to the facial palsy on the right so that the eyelid didn't blink and lubricate the eye, it was sensible to wear an eye patch over the right eye (I keep the eyeball lubricated with a sterile ointment, applied a few times a day, and the eyelid is taped closed every night. After some experimentation, I found a patch that holds the eye closed, which is relaxing and helps keep the eye lubricated longer.
For some months during my hospital stay ( of seven months) I had to be treated for an erosion of my cornea due to dryness. I worked out that this probably occurred when I had to be operated on again for hydrocephalus and spent a week in ICU where I don't recall any lubrication or taping of my eye. So now we are very careful about my eye care.
I've become used to wearing a patch and I like to think that it looks rakish, and as though I have just come from a Tarantino movie. It's certainly become part of my everyday life.
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