Update on me

March 2, 2003

Hello from the Rio Grande Valley!

Thought I'd update for those interested. My 2 yr anniversary will be

on April 9th - I already went for my 2 yr follow-up last week. I am

in exceptional health, other than low in B1 ... my own fault, I feel

so good that I just forget to take my vitamins. I know, I know, I

can't play around with this, so I'm trying to regroup and get back to

basics. My lowest weight was 170 in September, I am now up to 182 :-

( Too many bad habits creeping back, mostly the snacking, which I am

trying to get rid of. I continue with my setp aerobics and weight

training, so I try not to let the #s play a game on my head.

Next good news...I've been divorced since 1983 and all that time I

fought the legal system and my ex-husband for pennies for child

support. Well, my efforts have paid off. My father-in-law passed

away in Oct. and during those days my ex talked to my kids and

informed them that he is now classified a 100% disabled vet. No

sooner had he told them that and I was on the phone with the Attorney

General's office and I visited our local vet center. We should start

receiving $350/month back child support on a total arrearage of, get

this, ... $84,000. !! The paperwork was sent to the VA at the

beginning of Jan, so it should be any day now that we should start

getting our just reward (hopefully, help me pray)

Also on that note, he never listed our children as dependents so

we're waiting on approval from VA to recognize them as his (of course

they're his, we were married for Christ's sake!). As soon as all

this is final, my children will qualify for education benefits and

health insurance. We were told that will receive $670 a month

for attending school full-time and Gilbert will receive partial if he

starts part-time since he works full-time. We are so elated over

these news, now we just have to see the money start coming in. I

have NEVER been a materialistic person, I get by on very little, I'm

quite a simple woman, but at this point in our lives, the extra money

will surely come in handy. I'm just about to move into our new home,

maybe within a month or so...keeping my fingers crossed.

On a personal note, I met a man from San and we are both very

happy with each other. We met online through match.com, he is 51 yrs

old, has never been married, works in the office of an all-boys

catholic school, is their computer person, handles attendance,

progress reports, report cards, and is extremely dedicated to his job

and the students. We have much in common since I'm the secretary at

my elementary campus. We got to " know " each other for 5 wks before

we met during Valentine's weekend. We met half-way, in Corpus

Christi (which is when I met Donna Milner), then he paid for my

flight the following weekend to San so we could attend a

dance sponsored by his school's PTA. By the way, he had asked me to

attend the dance during the 2nd week that we were talking. So far so

good, we complement each other very well in all aspects, life,

intelligence, goals. I can't begin to explain how happy I am.

I sincerely feel that most of these changes have come about as a

result of my WLS. I am a more out-spoken, out-going person now. The

weight loss has given me the self-esteem I never knew I had. I

always yearned to be the person I am now, and I never get tired of

thanking Almighty God for giving my surgeon the knowledge to perform

this surgery, and for giving me the courage to do this.

I love you all and keep you all in my prayers daily, for you all are

part of my extended family.

((HUGS))

Estela

P.S. Please keep my children in your prayers, that they may get what

is legally owed to them by their father. It is long overdue.

March 2, 2003