putting a certain amount of trust in the "authority" of the system to give an honest assessment, they glaze over something that is not to be ignored

I couldn't agree more. It's so important to get a second opinion and persist - our bodies know something is up - we need to really take responsible for our own health as the health care system isn't necessarily going to back you until it's too late. My father (who had always been super healthy, by the way) went to get a lump checked in his groin, and the local doctor told him it was nothing. Dad trusted that advice as he figured he was talking to an expert. In hindsight, Dad knows he should have persisted as six months later it was bigger and he got a biopsy from another doctor who confirmed it was cancer. He's at the end of a long road of treatment that has worked for him in the end but recognises that trust in your local doctor is no substitute for trusting one's own feeling that something is not quite right. Multiple perspectives is a good idea. - K