I saw a pain specialist the other day � he was quite nice, very understanding, and seemed to have a lot of compassion. The best part � it is only 24 hours after the visit and my pain is already significantly under control.

He gave me a fentanyl patch. That�s a patch placed on the skin (like a nicotine patch) that gives a continuous dosage of pain medication (an opiate). I�m on a very low dose, and while I think it may need to be bumped up a bit to give me total pain control, it has totally taken the edge off of my pain.

Good news #2:

We moved Baby Catnip to her own room last night. (Long story as to how that decision was finally made. The short version is, either she moved out of our bedroom or *I* was moving out.)

Last night was the best night of sleep she�s had since she was born! Whee! (That means that it was the best night of sleep *I* have had since she was born �)

Soooooo � good news #1 plus good news #2 means that today was just about the best day I have had in nearly six months. I have been on cloud nine all day long. Nearly pain-free, with a halfway decent night�s sleep under my belt � I am ready to take on the world! Wooooo!