Redhands...
So sorry you are having so much pain and frustration. Unfortunately, you are in good company here. I'm fairly new here...but the one thing I can tell you is everyone is so helpful and good at listening.
I was diagnosed this past July - but I had been being treated for tennis elbow for a year & a half prior to that...and, the cortisone shots helped me too...but they would only last about three months. When they stopped helping, my PCP sent me for the arthritis panel which showed high ANA. Then to the rheumy and all the other tests. The Anti-dsDNA sealed it for me. Did they do that on you?
I find it hard to believe that the bloodwork is going to take three weeks. That is just when they scheduled you back. I'd call the office and ask if you can pick up your test results so you can do a little research of your own.
The one thing I've learned in the past six months is that you are the expert on you...not the doctors. While, we need their expertise, they aren't experiencing what we feel.
I'm not always thrilled with my rheumy...but yours sounds a bit stand-offish. I think I'd search for another one.
~Kim