Avoiding the doctor shuffle

A seven year old child relayed to his mother that his head constantly hurt. The mother had her child assessed by the Pediatrician, showing no neurological deficits/symptoms, only the headache. The mother went through an elimination process of having his eyes & ears assessed as possible cause. She continued to journal what made his headache worse such as running, with continuation of no other symptoms, eliminating any food allergies and misalignment of neck and spine with a Chiropractor. After continued week of head aching, she contacted her Pediatrician to determine if the next step CAT Scan or an MRI. The Pediatrician referred her to the Children's Hospital. The mother stated, "They have me scheduled with a Physician Assistant (PA) and a Behavioral Health Specialist (BHS).                                                                                          

While speaking with the hospital, I should have pushed back to get scheduled with the right physician using the correct terms. I was able to call back after HC Aware and let them know that my son has no behavioral issues and I don't need to go down from a Pediatrician to a PA driving up costs with unnecessary office visits and assessments, especially with a detailed journal of symptoms and elimination of possible contributing factors already chronologically listed. 
By pushing back, I was able to get an office visit with the right specialist who could reassess and order an MRI to focus on a diagnosis, and not give him medications to address the symptom of a headache without getting a proper diagnosis. 

To have a patient champion on the phone because I was stressed during the visit and the doctor only ordered blood work and I did not immediately ask why he was ordering those specific labs when he was not showing any symptoms for what he ran (e.g. anemia). 

The doctor was asking me if my son took pills. I stated, "No." He then continued to counsel me that I need to train my son about pill taking because it is important. He was coaching me to condition my son for taking pills "start with ice cream sprinkles, then swallowing mini-M&Ms and the full size M&Ms so he can take multiple pills at once."

Feeling tired and overwhelmed, by having a patient champion on the phone during the visit, I would have pushed back immediately to avoid unnecessary blood work, the only thing he concluded, "Some people just live with headaches." There was no diagnosis and no order for a MRI to rule out issues causing constant headaches for months. I would have not left frustrated, confused and being told to journal his headache for months, when I had already just did a journal for months of his headache. I left without a diagnosis or order for an MRI to establish ruling out possible causes in his head.