Probably, but your ability to process the information is severely limited to someone who has be trained on how to do so. And I'm not saying that your doctor has been trained to do so.
My faith in Doctors is pretty much at an all time low.
I kept having bouts of extreme pain with really strange symptoms, Doc's said Reflux but I kept saying it didn't fit the pattern, a dozen AE (ER) visits later and I got a Doc who told me to insist on an MRI.
Turns out I have Syringomyelia, a serious and rare spinal condition which the radiologist spotted by accident as it was on the edge of the scan, he then did a bunch more images and they saw the syrinx.
The next doc I saw I needed an endoscopy and they said the results where abnormal, so I looked into the condition, when I went to see the gastro doc I asked him if the cells where "high" or "low" grade dysplasia and his snarled response "Oh, trying to be a doctor eh", "no, just trying to be an informed patient".
I requested a different gastro doc after that, I read everything I could get my hands on and I'm not stupid, I understand my condition well enough to ask good questions at least.
I feel that the chasm between the lay person and the MD has widened tremendously in our lifetimes (I'm in my 30s).
This also, unfortunately has made the average patient be almost completely uninformed. They demand medication to cure their, self-inflicted, ills, or try to diagnose through Web MD.
I for one will educate my children and will continue to educate myself to not require an MD on every occasion.
But I know that I'm not an MD and I was not trained to diagnose. I'm glad you found doctors who could give you a correct diagnosis that you can lean on to help you through your own search for the truth. I feel this is the best solution at the end of the day, for patients and doctors to be partners.
* My dad is an MD and my wife is a biological scientist which really puts me at an advantage.
