My Accident During the Holiday Break.

I am writing today for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year as we wrap up the final days of 2018. It has been a good trading year, particularly since the Fall and into the Christmas holidays.

Secondly I wanted to update everyone on a health issue I have experienced since I started my year end vacation. I had been having some issues with my right eye the last couple of trading days, so I made an appointment to see my eye doctor. He couldn’t find any issues really, but was concerned that my symptoms were related to a retina detachment.

It was not obvious at the time of my appointment since I only had a very small tear, but the tear was enough to allow fluids to seep in behind my retina, and that was causing me to see some floaters, a shadow or dark spot in one corner of my vision and some sparks or flashes if I moved my eyes in certain directions. All very concerning, but the tear was not obvious at that point, and the doctor sent me home with instructions to watch it closely and call him immediately if there were any changes.

The next day I missed the last step coming down a ladder and while that was a minor issue and I wasn’t injured in any way, the jarring that was created by the extra distance to the bottom was enough to jar my retina and cause a portion of it to detach. I was instantly blind in my right eye.

To make a long story short, my doctor sent me to a specialist in Memphis for emergency eye surgery to have the retina repaired and reattached. This happened on Wednesday before Christmas, so I have been incapacitated since that point. I have been stuck at home during Christmas and forced to keep my head down and in a special position that will require a total of 14 days before I am free to look up again. This is like a small jail sentence to be honest, but it is to save my vision, so you do what you have to do in this case.

I was not aware of what was involved in retina reattachment surgery, and I am glad that was the case, because they do not put you to sleep. I would have been much more worried and concerned had I known what was involved ahead of time. For anyone interested, here is a video I watched after the fact out of curiosity of what was actually done to me. Warning, it is not for the squeamish.

So, this is not what I had envisioned for my Christmas and New Years break. I am also not sure how this is going to affect my return to work at this point. I am free to read or watch TV, as that seems to have no affect on this issue, but the fact that I have to keep my head down and how quickly my vision will return will play a roll in a normal routine for me. As of now, I plan to try and be back in the office on January 2nd, but that might change depending on how I am healing and how my vision may affect my trading ability.

I will have some follow up visits as well, and my doctor is in Memphis, so this will undoubtedly require me to be out for the day on occasion until I am fully released by my doctor. Thanks in advance for your prayers for a full and complete healing of my eye and eyesight, as this is the one thing that would quickly end the career of a day trader. Until the gas bubble that is in my eye dissipates, I am still blind in that eye to be honest, so even when I can raise my head, I will be waiting on the gas bubble to run its course so that my eyesight will clear again. I was told that this accelerates cataracts for some people as well, so I may require cataract surgery once my retina has completely healed, so that is another possible issue moving forward. The specialist I am seeing is world renowned and one of the pioneers in this procedure, and I went to him by choice and design, so I have one of the best doctors available treating me.

For now, I am taking this one day at a time and will keep everyone updated as to how I am doing and when I expect to be back to a normal routine. As of today, I still plan to be back in the office on January 2nd, but at what capacity that remains to be seen. Thanks again for your prayers and I will update everyone on January 2nd.

Mack

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