Thirteen hours

A most remarkable thing has happened.

Samantha apparently went 13 hours today without any Motrin at all, and with only one dose of Tylenol somewhere in the middle. This may not seem remarkable to you, but it's astonishing to us. It's been months since she has been able to go more than 8 hours without Motrin, and she's usually required Tylenol somewhere toward the 5 hour mark to get her through. Thirteen hours without significant pain feels like some kind of breakthrough.

What changed? Beats me. She did have an appointment with her acupuncturist earlier this week and he repositioned the acupuncture beads he had previously applied. Could they be having an effect at last? It's almost too much to hope for.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. It may be that this is just a fluke, a one day reprieve. But it's the first reasonably good day Samantha has had with her knee in I've lost track of how many months, and at this point any sign of hope is worth holding onto even if it turns out to be grasping at straws in the end. If only she can sleep through the night tonight ...

Wish us all luck.