Welcome to the forum Charles! I have only been here a couple of days and have found folks to be warm and helpful.
Unfortunatley,the whole 'man-thing' is still alive and well here in England,it takes some working around,but it is changing albeit slowly and when matters of health are concerned that can only be a good thing.
As to the tests and explanations,my experience is to ask questions,and if you are not satisfied,ask again and again if necessary.I feel that often explanations can be harder to understand because they are made in med-speak,this is done for speed and their own use and understanding of that vocabulary.I look at it in a simple way,and that is if I had to explain what the doctor had just told me,how would I do it in words that anyone who might ask me can understand,if I'm not getting that from the doc then I make sure that I do....