Not Neuropathy for sure

Well, I guess I will have to change the name of my blog. I do not have neuropathy. The nerve conduction tests were negative. Apparently the original ones I had done were too. That was a year and a half ago. Damn, I knew that neurologist I went to back then was awful. I really hated going to him because he never answered questions.Almost 2 years of my life we could have spent figuring out what the real problem was. Maybe  2 years less of suffering.
My new primary care doctor is really wonderful. Her name is Dr Brvenik. She is the kind of doctor you want to have, a real bulldog. I mean that in the best possible way. In fact, what I mean is she is the type to not settle until she finds the answer. For example, my shoulder has been giving me problems for almost 10 years. Every doctor I have told previously has brushed it off, until her. MRI shows bulging discs in my neck causing nerve pain in my shoulder down my arm, severe pain at times, just like sciatic but in shoulder down arm instead of butt down leg.
She also insisted on a full physical including pap and breast exam. Breast exam found a lump. Now, I've been through two mammograms and an ultrasound. The lump is probably just a cyst. But, she is sending me for a needle aspiration to be sure. I am 99.9% sure it is just a cyst and sure is she, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. The whole thing, having to wait over the weekend for the result of the second mammogram, set off the worst flare in my life, nothing like I have ever felt before. Excruciating pain in my arms, from the top where the shoulder joint is to my fingertips. Extreme weakness in them, and tender. Two days later the pain had narrowed down to "just" my joints. It's mostly gone now except some overall weakness from feeling so bad all week, and really bad left shoulder pain from the bulging discs.
Dr Brvenik is trying to get me in to see the rheumatologist now to be tested for lupus. The only problem she says is lupus is extremely hard to diagnose. For example, the blood test can come back false negative, and often does. I know I was checked for it at some point. Either 3 years ago or 10 years ago. And, it was negative then, but could still be positive now. I don't even know what lupus means, except I know that one of the first signs is inflammation in the knuckle area of the hands. That I've had forever, years, like 7-10 years, before the pain started. I had it so long I just thought it was some odd quirk since there was no pain.
So, Friday will be a big day for me. An appointment with the hand surgeon for a consult regarding carpal tunnel in my right hand, an appointment with the general surgeon for a consult to have the breast needle thing, and an appointment with the orthopedist for the bulging discs in my neck.
Wish me luck!!