tigate. We owned a large property in Austin (with a corresponding
large monthly payment) as well as 3 income properties (vacation
rentals) in Palm Springs. The end of 2008 wasn't a great time to own
or sell real estate, and we were bleeding cash every month.
Bankruptcy was on the horizon. We decided to move back to
California into the smallest of our 3 income properties to save cash.
We finally were able to unload the Austin house for the amount of the
mortgage, which was much less than what we paid for it.
Just when things seemed their bleakest from a financial standpoint,
something happened that literally saved us — both financially and
personally. I was in the process of contacting everyone I knew to see
if they knew of any work opportunities, and I called the gentleman
who I'd worked with at KeraVision and who'd vouched for me with
ArthroCare. He was working for an interesting privately held ophthal-
mology company. As it turned out, the CEO was an old friend and col-
league of mine from Allergan. He asked me to fly out and meet with
him. We caught up and he felt my experience in the intervening years
was a good fit for the needs of the company. He made me an offer to
join them as a consultant that very day, even though I had filled him in
on as much as I could regarding what had happened at ArthroCare. It
was the best thing that could have happened to us. The company was
well run, highly ethical, and filled with people who were high in talent
and low in ego. I was so very thankful for the opportunity and remain
so to this day. I worked there right up until the time I surrendered and
I was given the opportunity to make a significant contribution during
the time I was there.
Little did I know that having that kind of stability and positive work-
ing environment would be incredibly important for what was coming
on the horizon.
As I left ArthroCare, both the Securities and Exchange Commission
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