@geve
So glad you're here in this community, but so sorry about your pain, suffering and lack of relief/help from your Doctor/s.
Have you seen a Rheumatologist yet? That's the type of Dr that can help you the most and understands the disease and all the available treatments for it. No offense to most PCPs or surgeons but they just don't have the experience, education and expertise of a Rheumatologist. At least not the majority of them don't. I'm not a Dr and this isn't
medical advice, but I
suggest you go see a Rheumatologist BEFORE going for neck surgery. Do you feel absolutely
certain that the numbness in right hand and shoulder pain are from your neck. Is your surgeon/Dr saying it's from bulging disc/s pushing on nerves or what? I had horrible pain, swelling, and sensitivity in both my hands, and sometimes numbness too. The pain in both shoulders woke me up every night to the point I'd have to get out of bed and go sit upright the couch to have it not hurt quite as much. But each person's symptoms can be different.
Had a bunch of other symptoms, pain, stiffness, weakness too.
PMR usually shows up bilaterally and shoulders are one of the main areas. Does the pain or any other symptoms wake you up during the night/early am? That's another thing that happened to me and I believe many others. It's a bizarre list of possible symptoms and each person's can be different. I've had neck surgery 2x's. Have 2 levels fused from 2 different surgeries. I would definitely advise being certain it's your neck prior to surgery but I'm not a Dr so I can't give medical advice but only as a neck surgery "survivor" and someone with PMR.
Truly hope you can confirm what's going on prior to surgery.
Blood tests can show different things and CRP is a big one for PMR. So don't think that because other labs were negative that it rules out PMR. They can do a color doppler Ultrasound of your shoulders to look for PMR changes. Blessings.