Like most people, speechless here.

Eventhough most of us have not met, and probably would never meet in person, but it feels like longtime friends after over a year posting.

I sincerely wish you the best - you will overcome the obstacle and restart, there is no question in my mind.

Anyone has worked in energy sector in the early 90's in Houston, or anyone has worked in IT sector in the early 00's in CA, all have similar stories to tell. My brother went thru about 5 or 6 jobs since 2000 but each job was getting better - it did not matter each job initially started as a contractor, financially he was getting better on every subsequent assignment and each contract job led to a perm offer too.

I dont know about your field - but networking is the No.1 factor in your job searching process.

All the bests.