Day twentyfour ends

I called Dr. F.'s office today to make an appointment for a phone consultation. My assumption was that this would be covered under insurance in a similar manner as an office visit.

Big disappointment.

The cost to talk to Dr. F. for 45 minutes is $360. Ouch! That's all out-of-pocket. No insurance coverage at all.

Since I am planning on a 14 day fast after about 60 days of staying on the ETL diet, I investigated the cost of that as well. Michele, a very helpful individual in Dr. F.'s office assisted me with that. To start a fast you need a phone consultation, at the costs shown above. Then you need to talk to Dr. F. on the phone every 2 days. A "cluster" of three short calls costs $240. For me to have Dr. F. medically supervise my fast would then cost about $840, give or take a couple of hundred bucks.

For me to have Dr. Sharp do the same thing in Chapel Hill would cost me a single $20 co-pay, plus probably nothing for the phone calls every couple of days.

Hmmm. Let's see. $840 vs. $20. Hard to decide. Hard to decide.

Bottom line is that I am very financially incented to figure out a way to work with Dr. Sharp. My next appointment with him is on Monday. I will let you know how that goes.

Diet wise, I had a bowl of black beans, a huge salad (red cabbage, romaine lettuce, tomato, black seedless grapes, red bell pepper, raw almonds and balsamic vinegar), and some fruit (apple, more black seedless grapes and blueberries) for lunch. Later I had more black beans. Those suckers are awesome! We then went to another Bikram yoga class, followed by dinner at Whole Foods. Lots of different types of tofu and tempeh, brussel sprouts, steamed broccoli, brown rice, chickpeas, grapes, pineapple.

All with lots and lots of purified water.

I feel terrific. I am in my post Bikram state. I am enjoying the diet very much. I am full and very satisfied. I feel deliciously tired. I expect I will sleep like a baby.

More later.