As The Young and the Restless viewers know, Jack recently left Genoa City on business. But what you might not have known is there was a reason behind the character’s sudden exit. In this week’s Soap Opera Digest, CBS vet Peter Bergman shared the news that he had to undergo emergency surgery after being diagnosed with a detached retina.

He first detected that something was wrong while traveling to California’s central coast to visit family. “On the way, there was a funny thing on the inside corner of my left eye,” Bergman explained. However, he kept the issue to himself, even from his wife Mariellen, and as the night went on it was as if something was creeping into his eye. “By the end of the night it was like a curtain closing in toward the center of my eyesight.”

The next morning resulted in a detached retina and being advised to avoid any elevations on his return home, Bergman opted not to have surgery in San Luis Obispo. He was able to get an appointment the following day so he and his wife returned to Los Angeles for the procedure.

Everyone at Young & Restless sent their well wishes and asked for updates, which made him “feel very special.” Bergman admitted that the recovery process had been quite the challenge, having to keep his face parallel to the floor for “50 minutes out of every hour for seven days.” Mariellen tried to make her husband more comfortable by setting up a special contraption so he could at least watch television. “My favorite activities are exercising and reading books, and I could do neither one,” he shared. “It seemed like it took forever.”

Fans will recall that Bergman’s castmate Mishael Morgan (Amanda) underwent the same procedure back in March and he relayed that she was a helpful source during his recovery. “She was fantastic.”

Bergman returned to the studio for the soap’s annual Christmas party and has since taped scenes for Jack’s big homecoming. “It’s all very good stuff,” he promised, then reflected on his “temporary visit with blindness” and “wild adventure” by saying, “It was also a sobering reminder of how precious eyesight is.”

As we wait to see what Jack has in store for Genoa City, Soaps.com invites readers to close out the last day of the year with us by looking back at soaps’ best and worst of 2021… from the biggest shocks and hottest plots to the dumbest moves and ‘wiggiest’ decision ever — see photo reflections of it all in our gallery below.