Pagans and Health Care

[Ara]

I am in a Transcultural/Community Health class right now and working on a paper on Pagans and Healthcare.  For part of it, I want a more personal take on it, and input from my 'Go to' group of Pagans.  So, what do you guys think?  What do you look for when you are in the hospital, or when your family is going to any healthcare facility?  Are there any health care practices that you won't take part of for personal beliefs? 
I am just starting to do my research, but I am interested to know what you guys think.
Thanks-
Ara

[RedRonin]

I'm big on the "DNR" practice.

I have no intention of simply "existing" on the planet beyond my productive years.  No interest in sitting in a diaper and drooling into a cup just so I can continue to draw breath.

No extraordinary measures, no artificial support, nothing.  Let me go.

Aside from that, I really have to deal with the situation.  There were treatments with the ITP that I will absolutely not repeat.  I've spent the last two years without any medical intervention and am holding my own.  The treatments ranged from damned near killing me in the short term to permanently messing up my muscles, joints and connective tissue in the long.  Probably would not have done that had I known up front what was in store.

[Labrys]

Like Red, I have seriously considered having "DNR" tattoo'd in red letters over my breastbone.

I do not ever ever want to live like Terri Schiavo.

I am enjoying most of my life, in spite of pretty much daily pain.  I am generally healthy in spite of injury.  But I no longer work, I don't feel any contribution of mine to the world is worth catastrophically expensive crazy measures to keep me alive if I am THAT busted up. 

Anything of worth that I do alive?  I'm pretty sure I can keep doing it when dead!

[Brijrian]

I'll third Labrys and Red. DNR is a good one. I too do not want to live as a vegetable. Ever.

I am also not a big fan of interventions, unless absolutely necessary. There are a lot of "standard procedures" that happen in hospitals that are not necessary in the least. There is a huge disconnect between research and hospital care. What has been shown to work, and work well, is either extremely slow to be incorporated in the hospital, or never arrives there. Case in point: obstetrics. The following is an article about all of the helpful procedures that help mothers vs. what hospitals actually do.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730905/

The aspect of medical care that I'm most versed in is the birthing area--and I am big big big into no intervention there (except for the very small percent of women that actually need intervention). That's why I had my two boys at home-because I have no faith that the hospital would leave me alone. I wanted no pitocin, no laying-on-your-back labor, no confined to your bed, no epidural, no "lets make it easy on the doc and hoist you 4 feet in the air on the bed".

I am very grateful that we live in a day and age when there are safe surgeries and the like. But I don't want them pushed on me (for example: my Father was all signed up for surgery to get an unneeded pacemaker, without his permission. He had to say 'no', and the docs treated him like an idiot. He's happy and healthy two years later--without one.)

I want support to find alternatives before there are major interventions--to support my body healing itself. I want to be cooperated with, and not treated like an ignoramus.