Promising new med but still some other struggles

Daniel started on the new med on Saturday. One of the purposes of it is to help him wean off some of his pain meds. It replaces them but with fewer side effects. By the second dose it was already causing major "dopeyness" as his opioid meds weren't acting on as much of his pain anymore and were causing him to feel overdosed. (That's unfortunately a too-familiar feeling for him). But in this case, over the weekend I had him lower his dose of one of his meds to compensate. 

We saw Dr. Zubek on Monday and she took him off the most inflexible pain med he was on -- a patch that is replaced every three days. So, now while the pain is being managed well enough, Daniel is dealing with withdrawal symptoms. Shivers/shaking, some confusion, and a lot of brain fogginess. All of this causes a fair amount of anxiety. 

We talked with the home health nurse about it today and she said it's just something you have to ride out. She advised Daniel to drink more water to help flush out the kidneys. So, please pray this first transition will go smoothly and that the withdrawal will be minimized and shortened. 

Because of Daniel's symptoms, he needs more monitoring and help. This in turn has depleted more of my energy. I'm very thankful for all the help I've gotten these past several days. Please pray for me that I would have the strength, energy, wisdom, and patience I need to help him and be there for the kids too. 

Listening to John MacArthur again today, I wanted to learn more about prayer. It's such an integral -- and powerful -- aspect of the Christian life. It activates God's power as He invites us to take part in His plan.

Pastor MacArthur was also talking about how we should pray. One important way is praying according to God's will. We know that God being honoured, worshipped, and glorified is His will (after all, only He has the qualifications to deserve that!). So, as I continue to pray that Daniel would be healed, I can confidently pray that God would use whatever method to heal him -- a moment of time (like the dream I had last night; that was nice, though oh so disappointing when I realized it was just a dream), or the new med he's on, or the supplements he's taking, or whatever! Whatever way that would bring Him the most glory.  

I also know that God would be glorified by healing Daniel for so many reasons. Not only would Daniel's full healing and restoration be a wonderful witness of God's power and faithfulness, but Daniel returning to his ministries at Timberline and here at home would honour God so much as well. 

And so we pray fervently with hope and expectation. No, we don't know the sovereign will of God and we must ask these things in humility, knowing God knows best. But we do know that the purpose of life is that God would be praised, and we long to praise Him for the rest of our lives for healing Daniel. 

Thank you for your faithful prayers. They do truly make a difference.