Have you had a doctor tell you what are experiencing is only artritis?

Good that you got the 2nd opinion and that the problem was correctly diagnosed and it's fixed before it's too late. Something similar happened to me too. After I had my 1st child, I had a lot of aches in my hands. I went to the doc and he also kept telling me it's just arthritis, blah, blah. But it kept getting worse every month. I decided to change docs and get a 2nd opinion. Turns out I have this thing called Sjogren's Syndrome and in a worst case scenario, I can develop lymphoma! Thank God that was diagnosed early.

Good for you for reporting him. Not all doctors are as proficsient (sp) in every field though. He really could have thought you had arthritis. We must all be responsible for our health and bodies and if we feel a doctor has misdiagnosed or not done enough tests by all means ask for a referral. I have a bulging disc in the same area. My doctor referred me to a specialist. The specialist did an MRI on my knee and sent me to physical therapy. At physical therapy my back started hurting and the knee getting better, then knee bad again and back worse. I went back to my doctor and he ordered an x-ray of my back and gave me referral back to specialist. The specialist said "You need to lose weight" and sent me back to rehab. Two days later my doctor called and they wanted me to have spinal steroid injecion righ away to help with the inflammation in my back and I was told I had bulging disc at 4 and 5. This was my regular medical doctors office, not the specialist, so see not all doctors are alike and not all specialists find every ailment in their field. I am glad you are walking and are not paralyzed. Keep your chin up and always try to aim to stay limber. Good luck!