Prescription to All-Natural

Warning:  Very long beginning post.

 

Psalm 121

(HCSB)

The Lord Our Protector

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
⁴ Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.

⁵ The Lord protects you;
the Lord is a shelter right by your side.
⁶ The sun will not strike you by day
or the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will protect you from all harm;
He will protect your life.
⁸ The Lord will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.

It is in this psalm that I drew my strength as I studied "Stepping Up" by Beth Moore, five years ago, and recovered from cancer, stuck in bed for 12 weeks.  
Again I will draw my strength from it as I journey forward into focusing on my health.  For over ten years I've struggled with illness that for one reason or another the Lord has chosen not to remove.  In that course of time, the medical doctors prescribed medications to enable me to function on a relatively 'normal' basis each day.  (Those of you who know me may question the 'normalcy' part.)  
After knowing for many years that the very drugs that keep me functioning are a dangerous mix, I've decided to embark on a journey to wean myself off of them and try to go a more natural route.  How dangerous is this medicinal cocktail the doctors have me on?  When running a drug interaction classification analysis on them they rate Major and Moderate, none of them being minor.  What does that mean?  The definition of Major is: Highly clinically significant.  Avoid combinations; the risk of the interaction outweighs the benefit.  The definition of Moderate is: Moderately clinically significant.  Usually avoid combinations; use it only under special circumstances.  While the medication has for the most part worked to keep my pain level at a manageable level, allowed me to remain mobile, and allowed me to be coherent, I wonder when my body will no longer accept the medicinal abuse.  
Of course the cheapest route is to remain on the prescription medication.  What does the cost-factor look like?  Right now my insurance allows our out-of-pocket cost for medication to be around $20/month.  Insurance doesn't cover all-natural supplements.  The two I'm already on cost over $100/month, and we're looking at adding others to the mix.  Needless to say, we will be relying on the Lord's provisions to be able to afford all-natural treatments.  That, in itself, is a very frightening prospect for me.  Actually, the root of the fright is part insecurity and part pride.  I don't want to be a financial burden to my family, and I don't want to regress.  This is a common problem in America today.  Our doctors rely on drugs to treat the symptoms instead of getting to the root of the problem and working on all-natural means to cure it.  I won't open that can of worms here.  'Cause it's big. 
This journey would not be possible without the support of my wonderful husband, my family, and my chiropractor.  For them I am grateful.  For the strength, I am thankful to the Lord and the hope found in Him.