[...] the variable is initialized through a large process in my code that I can't really release on here

And we would not want it here; part of making an effective question here, which encourages effective answers, is to only show a code snippet that demonstrates the issue.

This you have done; and please realize that people now picking nits at the sample code are still trying to help you, even though the specific problem you raise isn't there.

All part of the Monastery way. :-)