Requesting a different provider is your choice, you or your insurance is hiring them to advise you , just like any other service you pay for, if you called a plumber and his high school age son who just took a shop class that taught him how to unclog a pipe would you pay for that ? , same thing at the doctors office with an advanced practice nurse , unfortunately many places are hiring these nurses because people don't complain and let them get away with it , you are paying for a physician don't accept anything less , I if they want to label you as a "difficult patient" that is indictment on them being less than ethical , in most states you also have the right to look at your entire record now including the formerly "private" doctors notes and to have a copy of your complete record , anytime you have a doctor change or leave a practice it's always a good idea to request a copy , any errors or ommisions found within or any personally conflicts that are noted in your chart can be combated by simply writing a letter of the facts and requesting that it be added to your record , under law they have to do it . So damn the torpedoes full speed ahead , if you are not your best advocate no one else can be , I have fired almost ever doctor in the town I live in for crossing a line , that I told them on day one not to go near and got the difficult patient label and to be honest it's a badge I am proud of , because when I go to out of town specialist for my care , they often don't understand at all what the label is about , because the doctor I fired was justified ,even last year when I had a stroke one of the nurses asked me why I go out of town for the majority of my care ? I told her don't get me started , it's a long story ,she leaned closer to the bed and said "I think I know what it is , I work with them day in and day out , I take myself and family out of town also , because these people are borderline incompetent and have a god complex" , I said that sums it up nicely .

I had a really good primary care doctor many years ago, primary care was not her first love in medicine , and there is no room to grow in this town ,so after being her patient for close to ten years she was offered a very prestigious position in geriatrics ( her first love) in another state , but she feared I would not get the care I needed from the guy that was taking her practice , she spent over 4 hours with this guy just on what a unique and special patient I am , and the care I need , he swore he would understood and would give me care equal or better then she had given me , he lied , she was not even out of town yet when he fired me from the practice , so I went to the chief of the physicians at the hospital to get what I needed this pissed said doctor off immensely, at that time hospitals still protected physicians who were a problem , so eventually I was asked to not return as patient to the entire network of hospitals , as I left I told them "if I do return , don't be here!" , the doctors I hired at another hospital network understood that I got a raw deal because of a jerk doctor , and have taken great care of me since, and anytime somebody does screw up I have no problem firing them and escalating the matter to a complaint about them to the medical board of there specialty as well as the Joint commission.

I know it's hard to make waves , but sometimes we have to do it , if you won't do it for yourself , do it for the patients who don't know they have choices !

Sorry to get on the soap box .

Also I don't know wear you are ,but all states have provisions for "respite" care to help caretakers not burn out , some places also have CIL, Center for Independent Living to provide aides to people with temporary or permanent disabilities , you can look into that for assistance with your boyfriends needs ,we cripples have away of finding things , if I can offer any help or more info feel free to ask .

Misterpain