@Jim Jim, did you ever get around to crowd sourcing your diagnosis? Might want to read up on an autoimmune condition called *Ankylosing Spondylitis* if you haven't already.

A dissolving back, eye problems, heart disease, kidney stones, numbness in legs, and blood cancers are associated with this disorder.
Doctors should test you for HLA-B27.

Other names:
Bekhterev's disease, Bechterew's disease, morbus Bechterew, Bekhterev–Strümpell–Marie disease, Marie's disease, Marie–Strümpell arthritis, Pierre–Marie's disease