Chalk One Up.....

.... for the good guys. I actually made it to work today. Which may not sound like a big deal to y'all... but for me, it's accomplishing something. Now granted, I did end up with a headache this afternoon before work was over, but at least I made it thru.

My new motto I take from Matthew 19:26... and from a bracelet that now makes it's home on my wrist so as I won't forget my new motto.... "With God... ALL things are possible."

A little more exciting news perhaps, our dear realtor informed Stephanie by e-mail today that another realtor had contacted her and told her that her clients had narrowed their search down to 2 houses, and our's being one of them. So ya might throw that little tidbit into your prayers tonight, because getting rid of that house would be a huge blessing to us right now. Do I even need to get into how my last paycheck was a whopping $89.... yeeeeahhhh....

Really no reason for this picture... I just thought Mia looked cute in her bibs(trying to be like daddy), and thought I'd share.

Also tried my luck at bird photography the other day.... not my greatest thing.... although I like this one....

Just to Share

Hey all.... or one... or nobody, not sure if anyone besides Michelle reads this... haha Just a little bit of info that I forgot to share in the first post. Thursday, April 3rd, I'll be going to Carilion's Sleep Center in Radford to have a sleep test done. This will determine whether I'm not getting enough oxygen while I'm sleeping, or maybe some other factors that could be related to me waking up with/getting a headache daily. So maybe keep me in your thoughts and prayers as this is going on.... Not that I wish or hope that something is wrong with me, but sometimes I just wish they'd find something, so that we might get some clue as to what's going on. Does that makes sense?

Also, on a happier note.... I was able to get out yesterday and take some photos.... so I thought I'd share a few of those as well. Everyone have a good weekend!

This first one I might have to explain.... it's kinda hard to see from the twigs, but the tree says "Chris 88" My name was carved into that tree by Lewis Webb(he and his wife Nancy kept me when I was younger while my parents worked) in 1988(20 years ago!) and you can still see it vaguely. haha

What Makes You Feel Good??

So I was driving to Christiansburg this morning for a Dr.'s appointment, and I got to thinking..... What things in life make me feel good? I mean, most days my headaches have me feeling down and what not.... but what things in my life burst thru that pain and make me smile??? So here we go... some I have pictures for, others I don't.....

First off of course is my beautiful wife and gorgeous baby girl. There's nothing like someone who just gets me.... in good times and bad, she's always there. And then there's a little baby girl who just smiles or laughs and lights up my day!

Next up is... the country. There's just something about being out, away from everything that makes me happy..... even if it does take 30 mins to get to food or Walmart.
Taking Pictures.... Cameras in general... especially my older film cameras. Don't get me wrong, I love my trusty D80... but there's something about loading up a new roll of film and going out to take pictures just gets me all excited.... and then of course the big reveal after the film is developed....

then of course there's music, and friends(of which there are too many photos to upload)... many different things that make me smile.

And last but not least, in fact the greatest.... There's God, the lamb.... who's there for me everytime I feel down.....Every time I mess up(and it happens a lot!) Jesus is there to reach out his hand, pick me back up and say "You're forgiven". What can top that?? Eventually I'll be healed, it may be soon, maybe not.... It's all in His time. And knowing that, yeah... I feel good.

Hopping On....

So, some of my friends have started their blogs, and I thought to myself "Maybe I should start a blog as well....". I mean, I've had one in the past.... but kinda let it fade away. But now, since we're no longer near our friends really, I figured I'd start one up and maybe it'd be an easy way for people to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It'll also be a way for me to vent perhaps, maybe even show off some of my creativity (by that I mean photography mostly, I got nothing else)..... and maybe even help with the headaches, who knows. Which leads to.....

So what's with the title you may ask? Well as many of you already know, for the past year or so I've been suffering from daily headaches. I've been diagnosed with migraines, and had been on medication for a while to a) prevent them from happening at all, and 2) stop them once I get them.... with no luck however. As the year's gone on, they've gotten progressively worse, to where I'm now missing a couple days of work a week. So what has that meant for the Sigmon family? Well, for starters, since mine is the only income coming in at the moment, money has gotten a little tight.... we've put our house up for sale in Radford and are currently living in my parents downstairs. Not the ideal situation, but we're making it work.

Now more about the headaches.... Here's what's happened since '08 came roaring in.
I went to see a neurologist at UVA who specializes in headaches. His thoughts, " I see a case like your's at least once a day.... You're suffering from rebound headaches (not migraines all the time, although maybe once a month or so) from taking too much Excedrin." Well he goes on to say that if we can get rid of the rebound headaches, then I'd be down to maybe one actual migraine a month instead of daily headaches.... hey, I can live with that! So off of the Excedrin I went.... along with all other over the counter pain pills, and also caffeine totally... sonofa..... So then, I was on no meds for the headaches, aside from prescription strength Aleve( which evidently doesn't cause rebounds?) and one to help prevent the actual migraines... What happens then?? Well the headaches get worse, presumably from withdrawl of caffeine..... but 2 months later, still nothing... no relief. Every day I either wake with one, or it comes on during the morning, and gets worse as the day goes on... by nighttime, usually unbearable. So I go back to UVA. Well, it seems that the Doc didn't realize that my daily headaches were as painful as they were.... so maybe they are migraines after all... so he ups one of my meds and then gives me one to take when I get a "bad" headache. And he tells me to still stay off the caffeine and OTC pain meds, and that sometimes rebounds take up to 6 months to go away..... so I go back in September....

Nowadays, I'm still having the daily headaches like before.... but I'm at least on a 1st shift job, so usually i can get my work day over with before they get too bad... although I'm still missing a lot of work. And let's not even get started on the 3 months without caffeine.... Holy Crap I just want a cup of coffee or a chai tea latte! haha

Sorry for this long first post, but I just wanted to get you all up to date.... the days to come will be filled with updates on not only me, but on Stephanie and our little Mia as well... although she's quickly becoming our big Mia!