What is your Achilles’ Heel of critical thinking? We all have at least one- some issue or situation that we cannot approach as an outsider free of emotions or bias.
This week I learned that my dogs are my Achilles’ Heel to critical thinking. My 10-year old papillon Stoli started acting lethargic this week and stopped eating or drinking. When I took him to the vet, they were very concerned and rushed us to the emergency clinic for a blood transfusion. It appears Stoli has Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, which means his body is attacking his own red blood cells. After a shot of Prednisone, oral medication, and a plan to continue testing his blood often we went home and hoped for the best. This morning, we had a big scare when Stoli suddenly fell over. We rushed to the emergency clinic again, and learned his blood oxygen level dropped dramatically from going up a few stairs and he basically fainted. He was on the borderline for needing a blood transfusion today, and as I sat and discussed the decision with my husband I realized we cannot think critically when it involves our animals.
Over the past 72 hours, we have been faced with an ambiguous situation (an illness that has no clear cause, a shaky prognosis, and an animal that can’t tell us what hurts) and tons of decisions to be made. Should we leave Stoli at the emergency clinic overnight just in case something happens? Should internal medicine run some tests to determine the cause (even though more often than not they can’t find the cause)? Should he have the blood transfusion? Should they check his red blood cell count again? Should we get a second opinion?
These decisions are especially difficult because we want to minimize the stress on Stoli, but make sure all necessary treatment is given. Plus, we have no knowledge about animal medical care. The terms, treatments, and tests are like a foreign language to us. The doctor could be making up words and we wouldn’t know the difference. In addition, each one of these decisions were expensive. For example, while Stoli was on the borderline for needing a blood transfusion, that was a $600 decision (and that is after $500 of vet bills in the past two days).
It’s no wonder so many people go into debt for the medical treatment of their loved ones (human or animal) because the decision IS emotional. I have blogged time and time again about removing emotion from decisions in order to think critically, but in this situation I can’t. I cannot remove emotion from decisions about my animals because the situation is inherently emotional. My head will never override my heart when it comes to my pets.
Is the situation really that different in business? What does the phrase “It’s not personal- it’s business” mean anyway? Laying off employees is emotional. Firing employees is emotional. Performance reviews are emotional. Investing your life savings is emotional. Life is emotional.
What is your critical thinking Achilles’ Heel and how do you overcome it?
Editor’s Note: Breanne Harris is the Solutions Architect for Pearson TalentLens. She works with customers to design selection and development plans that incorporate critical thinking assessments and training. She has a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and has experience in recruiting, training, and HR consulting. She is the chief blogger for Critical Thinkers and occasionally posts at ThinkWatson. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter for more of her thoughts.
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So true Breanne! It is hard to put emotion aside when it is your pets!
Of course, I had a dog once that ate an entire brand new box of heart guard medicine. I called the animal control phone line and the call was going to cost $60. I was so mad at my dog that I hung up and asked my husband if he was worth it. I calmed down and eventually talked to a doctor who said that he would be fine. Sometimes it is very difficult to set aside your emotions.
I can’t believe Animal Control charges $60 for a phone call!
Hope your baby is okay. I just stumbled on your post while researching a paper on the Greek Warrior Achilles, however my beloved Rottie passed away in 2008 from AIHA. She was a strong willed dog and by the time she showed us she wasnt feeling well her RBC count was around 14. (50 is considered normal I believe) and the vet bill was approaching $2000. The vet gave us a 50:50 percent chance a blood transfusion would stabilizer her for a few days but couldnt promise anything more than that. We were left with the hard decision to euthanize her.
Just wanted to pass on my blessings for your beloved dog and family.
Rhonda- I’m so sorry to hear about your Rottie. I can’t imagine how difficult that decision was. Recovery from AIHA is a long road, though, and the vets know when prolonging life will be too painful for the doggie. It’s a horrible situation. It sounds like we were in the exact same situation at first, but were on the lucky side of that 50/50 chance. Early tests showed that his bone marrow was already kicking up production, so we were hopeful we had luck on our side. In the first week of treatment, Stoli’s RBC went from 13 to 18, so we are on the right track. Our vet told us we were probably within hours of a a disastrous outcome. It’s the kind of disease that comes on slowly, but the dog doesn’t show symptoms until the situation is critical. Such a tough situation, and they can’t tell you how they’re feeling. I never even noticed that my dog’s tongue, gums, and ears were no longer pink. Now we know what to look for and how to manage his disease.
Thank you for the warm wishes, and I’m so sorry you and your Rottie had to go through this.