is bankruptcy my only option?

over the past year i went thru a gut-wrenching divorce & was left with a bit of debt from my ex wife's rehab and a house with a mortgage i couldn't really afford but desperately wanted to hold onto. i started playing the stock market as a way to supplement my income using low or no interest credit card loans and trading on margin. i was also using these personal credit card loans to help keep my business afloat. at first it was working and supplementing me just enough but as the market began to slip i began to try and hold out. as margin calls came in i kept borrowing more money and eventually dipped into a home equity line of credit. eventually i used up every ounce of credit and the stock market as we all know tanked completely and basically wiped me out. here's what i'm looking at: i owe $184,000 in unsecured credit card debt, i owe $124,000 on a home equity line of credit (technically a 3rd mortgage) that i just found out is still attached to my ex wife's name despite her no longer being on the deed of the house. i am self employed and have an s corp which makes about $75,000 per year. after all of my business expenses my personal income taxes probably reflect no more than a $40k income. i've watched my industry take a downturn and expect it will trickle down to my business in about 4 months which will decrease my income severely. i cannot fathom how to even make a dent in the $308,000 i owe and yet everywhere i turn people say "declare bankruptcy as an absolute last resort, your life will never be the same." obviously this debt makes me sick to my stomach on a daily basis but i just wanted to know if there's any other remotely possible solutions or do i fall into a worst case scenario here and should go for bankruptcy? i would like to try and hold onto my house through the process if my mortgage company winds up qualifying me for lower payments through their home retention program - otherwise i'm headed down the road of foreclosure. the house is worth less than what i owe on it even without the $124k third mortgage. my other question is how to protect my ex-wife's credit through this process when it comes to that $124k equity loan. ultimately it was my choices that led to this financial disaster and she's got enough on her plate at the moment. is my only option through bankruptcy to hold onto that loan whose payment is $1025 a month or is there another option wherein her credit doesn't get trashed? also, how will my bankruptcy affect my s corp (which has no assets) if at all? i heard from an accountant friend that in the state of california you're allowed to keep up to $22,000 in assets through bankruptcy. is that true? i have about $10,000 left in the stock market that i'd like to hold onto to survive post bankruptcy and business downturn.