The good news - I finally met with the rheumatologist, Dr. B, who was very nice, and told me that there's no way I have RA, based on my symptoms. He says I'm in the small percentage of the population that has the rheumatoid factor present in my blood, but no RA. Can't anything be normal? Nevertheless, good news.
He checked out my legs/hips/other complaints, and I left there with a script to return to physical therapy. Diagnosis: trochanteric bursitis and adductor tendinitis (hm, just as I suspected!).
At PT, they don't think the tendinitis is a hip issue. Well, it is probably caused by my mechanical issues, but she doesn't think it's indicative of an underlying hip issue. I'm cautiously optimistic.
Also, this past Sunday I successfully walked the Pittsburgh half-marathon. 13.1 miles later I was tired, sore, and happy to get my finisher's medal. =]
