View from the Game Store is a column by Marcus King, Owner of Titan Games & Comics in London, Kentucky.  This week, King shares his recent medical challenges, how they affected the store, and offers thanks for those who came to his aid.

The only constant in both business and life: Changes.

On August 25, I had a stroke, they thought.  I thought, too.  Turns out it was an Arteriovenous Malformation - or AVM.  This caused me to forget things like how to speak, disrupted my balance, and caused the vision in my right eye to diminish by about 90%.  I was admitted to St. Joseph’s hospital in London, KY and be immediately flown by helicopter to another Saint Joseph’s hospital, in Lexington, KY.  I had a CT scan, MRI and a battery of X-rays and other tests.

It took three days to regain cognitive ability, four to be released from the hospital, and another couple months of  bed rest and short hours to recover. I got back to work in late October, and even took part in our Pumpkin Decorating event coinciding with our Halloween Comic Fest.  Now, I am mostly recovered.  I can do long division in my head, and am back to driving, typing without spellcheck, and doing the ordering and buying in the store. 

However, the intervening 10 weeks had a majorly bad impact on my business, as our labor needs tripled with my wife and I out of the store for so long.  My staff jumped in heroically.  My daughter came out of semi-retirement (as a new Mom) and has worked 60 hour weeks.  My three part-time people have worked full time and overtime the past 10 weeks.  And, that, of course, is very expensive.  I am mentioning this because I have some friends in this industry, to whom I owe thanks for having come forward with long dating on some invoices, or outright gifts of merchandise, to help me out.  Dan Verssen Games, Reaper Miniatures, Mayfair, ElfinWerks, some others.   I appreciate their help, and could really use a bit more if anyone is so inclined. 

Help even came from some retailers - thank you so very much Scott Thorne and Jon Huston - your kindness has meant a LOT to my store, and my family. CastlePerilous.com and TrollAndToad.com are their sites. 

This crisis of mine was a real eye-opener for me.  It has shown me that people are kind.  It revealed to me the truth of my wife’s love for me as she sat in the hospital with me for four days holding my hand and calming me when I could not even recall her name.  That was some scary stuff for sure. You could message Kimberly Spindle on Facebook to let her know that she is the center of my universe, if you care to befriend her.  She is a bit shy, but she is absolutely an amazing and loving woman, whom I am lucky to have in my life.

So, if I have ever touched you, helped you or inspired you, please reach out and let me know.  I could use some strength in the coming months as I try to get my finances and health back in order.

I hope to get my writing schedule back on track, as well.  Next week I will talk about the Smoky Mountain Gift Show that Kim and I attended last week.  It was only a two-hour drive from us, and attendance was free, so we went and researched what kinds of products would fit into our store.  There were even some of the game manufacturers, and one distributor, there.

If you want to follow my experiences and thoughts, or connect as friends, please consider visiting my Facebook page.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.