A rather tragic event occurred today… Matilda’s beloved “Jessie Toy” suffered a traumatic above knee amputation at the hands of an over-enthusiastic remote controlled car extraction, courtesy of Jack.
Jessie’s hip had been quite unstable over the last few days. She’s only been around since Christmas Day but that hip had seen some action! Multiple applications of super-glue, steri-strips and bandaids had failed to hold the joint together. Each time, Matilda waited patiently while the glue dried and helped me stick Pooh-Bear bandaids on Jess, but when the leg finally came off, I wasn’t sure we could save it.
Drastic measures were called for – she needed a R) THR (tranlastion: right total hip replacement) and calling on all my orthopaedic experience, I cracked open the tool box. 
After drilling deep into the shaft of the femur, I inserted a nail, secured with “bone cement.” Unfortunatley the neck and head of the femur were too badly damaged and the proximal end of the nail had to be secured into the acetabulum.
It’s a rather unconventional technique and has left her with a fused hip. But Matilda doesn’t seem to mind. The glue has dried, she’s probably stronger than ever and her post-op recovery went swimmingly.
It’s got me wondering if I should chuck in the Africa plans and start studying for a career in Orthopaedic Surgery? Yeehah!
The Beeck Brief 
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