..."serious and worried fellow"? That doesn't sound so good. Kind of has an "it's all in his head" sort of ring to it?
I sent my lawyer some info I had recently and in there were some studies that said 5% to 10% of all AS sufferers do not have the HLA B-27 gene (forgive me if I got the little buggers name wrong) and that evidence may not show up on X-Rays because it can take between 7 to 10 years for damage to show up that way. MRIs were considered to be a much more reliable method, so if that is an option for you and you haven't already gone that route, it might be worth looking into?
btw, all doctors were not created equal. Never hesitate to get a second opinion, especially if your current doctor gets pissy! When I had to explain to my rheumy the "facts of AS" he tried to make me feel like I was on crack. He ate his words and put the fact that I was right all along in writing. I am going to see a new rheumy in a couple of weeks.
You don't have to lay down and take it in the...
You're in charge, you're the man, your doctors work for you.
