If I recall correctly there's an old, but exceptionally wise, parable which eminates from the Indian subcontinent about the elephant and five blind people.
Perhaps it makes a point that many of us need to keep close at hand when we try and talk with our GP's or health care providers.
Imagine we put an elephant in a room and we bring five blind people into that room. None of them know what an elephant is. They haven't seen one.
We allow each person to touch the elephant.
And now we ask them to describe the elephant.
Each describes a different animal. However, each is right about their description. How can this be?
The first blind person touched the trunk of the elephant and described it a an animal that was similar to a tree. The second blind person touched the tail of te elephant and described it as being similar to a piece of rope.
Over centuries the parable has been re-told in many different ways.
One version describes how the blind people get into a heated debate about the animal they are describing and it isn't until a seeing person tells them of their folly that they decide to collaboarte on the overall description of the elephant.
I'm sure we've all heard the phrase, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck then in all probability it is a duck.
This is known as inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning differs from deductive reasoning. Inductive reason seeks to prove something by evidence which is short of absolute proof.
When we communicate with our care team we often assume they know how we feel or what we are suffering from. However, they could well be sat at the far end of our "proverbial" elephant and be as blind to that as we are.