I'm a million dollar customer. To my insurance company that is. Today was my appointment with a psychiatrist (I understand the reason for this is to determine if I'm doing this for health reasons or cosmetic reasons- let's just say the doctor gave me an A+). I also learned several things from him and it gave me a new perspective: The insurance company doesn't care about my health, they care about money. To them I am a million dollar customer. If I stay obese I will eventually cost them a million dollars in degrading-health costs, expensive tests, etc. So they will approve me for the surgery on that basis alone, so that I can save them tons of money.

I love capitalism

The doctor also gave me a new perspective and maybe you, my loyal reader, can imagine what my body is dealing with every day. I'm 520lbs right now. That makes me roughly 320lbs overweight. Now imagine a 20lb cement block, or even a 20lb bag of cat food. Now imagine carrying 16 of them around, all day. That's what I'm carrying around. Impressive huh?

I also learned from the psychiatrist that my chosen surgeon, Dr. DiBenedetto, will stick with me for the rest of either of our lives. The psychiatrist compared it to a marriage of a sort and said that's very unusual for a doctor to do. Most bariatric surgeons will see their patients once and then refer back to their primary care physician. This is not the case with Dr. DiBenedetto, as he'll keep watch long after the surgery. I find that impressive and I have confidence in him. I feel like I'm in good hands and what better hands to be in than a surgeon's hands?

Tomorrow I have to meet with the dietitian to learn how I will have to eat after the surgery. Should be interesting. Before I go, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, single or taken, and hope tomorrow isn't too disappointing.

PS. I also updated the Progress Bar to show I'm moving closer to Approval! Only one major hurdle left!