Not a hernia!

I saw the surgeon today and she said she does not feel a hernia!  She thinks the small bulge the primary care doctor feels (and that I can feel in the mornings!) is my right pelvic kidney (whose last appearance was on my 2009 lumbar MRI images and MRI report).  She thinks I strained an ab muscle (rectus abdominus, or the "6 pack" muscle), or that the ligaments holding the pelvic kidney in place are strained.  She said the kidney might actually move around a bit since it's not where it's supposed to be.

And she said my ab muscles are strong overall!

She said I'm to rest and listen to my body as far as daily living activities and stretching for back--advice we can all follow!  She says it will take 4-6 weeks to resolve itself, but if it gets worse or doesn't improve, she'll order a cat scan.

I am so relieved!  Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes my way and chanted the mantra of "not a hernia, not a hernia!"  It is very much appreciated!

Snow on the beach, food, ice storm pix

So my primary care doctor thinks my strained ab muscle is actually a hernia. I see a surgeon on Wednesday to disprove that theory!

Snow on the beach
I went to Sea Girt last Sunday 1/30/11 to see the snow on the beach.


Seagull line up on the boardwalk:


Looking north up the boardwalk: Left to right:  Sea Girt lighthouse, pavilion, and beach



Ice Storm
On Groundhog Day we had an ice storm; 10am delayed opening!




Food photos:
Chicken pot pie from Eat This, Not That (2010 edition). I made it tonight. I'd say it's the most delicious dish I've made this year!



I made chicken fried rice from Eat This, Not That (2010 edition) again tonight too. The bowls are my new pyrex bowls but I can't get the gray lid on either bowl. Hrm.



From 1/25/11, Chicken Piccata from Now Eat This by Rocco DiSpirito. Until the chicken pot pie, the chicken piccata was the most delicious food I'd made this year. It tastes just like chicken piccata from Bertucci's.


Amy's minestrone from 400 Calorie Fix 1/26/11.  It went much better cooking the sausage the second time.


I'd like to thank Mother Nature for the 40+ degree temperature and abundant sunshine today. I was able to take a nice long walk and hear the snow melting.  Thank you!

Friday night craft. And Wednesday snow.

What do you get when you combine me, a hot glue gun, a grapevine wreath, 50+ fake flowers, an idea I've had since last year, and an hour and a half?  This:


You may have heard, NJ got more snow. We were dismissed at 3pm on Wednesday and the university was closed on Thursday.  Here's my favorite picture I took of the snow on the trees:




My back yard; it's around 30F.  You can see the fresh accumulation on my air conditioning unit.  My neighbor thinks it was 14 inches.  weather.com said "n/a".


Snow covered evergreen in my back yard:


View from my front door:


It's so pretty, but there's no where for the snow to go. The snow is piled so high, I can't see looking left or right driving out of side streets. Crazy.

Ok, have fun! Here's a big kiss for the day: