Hip op, don't stop Inside the world of joint replacements

I an Doncaster is remarkably chipper for a man about to undergo major surgery. "I have a busy life. So it's nice to have a break," he jokes. It is 8.30am on a chilly December morning and here at Warwick hospital he is about to receive a new knee - or part of one.
At 62, Doncaster has always been active: he played rugby when young, until a knee injury and subsequent operation meant he had to trade that in for other sports. But now the knee is causing problems again. As a self-employed chartered engineer, he needs to be able to get up and down tower blocks. Even going hiking with his wife seems a wistful dream. "Going forward, it's only going to get worse," he says.
Which is why Doncaster is having a patellofemoral replacement, a partial knee replacement in which the wornout cartilage that covers the end of the femur and underside of the kneecap will be removed and implants inserted.
Pre-op, he has the air of someone who has watched a YouTube video or two. "It's brutal stuff. They cut the knee in half. They rip it apart. I mean, orthopaedic surgery is carpentry, isn't it?" Doncaster says. He's not wrong: when it comes to joint replacements, the tools of the trade wouldn't look out of place in a workshop.
After donning a gown and receiving anaesthetic into his spine, Doncaster is wheeled into the theatre and his leg swiftly wrapped in a yellow antimicrobial film.
Half a dozen or so nurses clad in blue scrubs and masks are ready for action. What is undoubtedly a big day for Doncaster is just a normal morning for the team: typically, such operations are finished in just over an hour.
The nurses check they have the right patient, and the right procedure, and ensure all the instruments - from hefty power tools to delicate scalpels - are primed for use.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 23, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 23, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden

In the footsteps of the fallen
Three years after the deaths of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian activist Bruno Pereira, the Guardian joined the Indigenous peoples continuing their dangerous, often gruelling, work to protect the rainforest

Don't call me cute
Small children wreak destruction in Yoshitomo Nara's paintings, exploding conventions with a rage inspired by natural disaster, the Ramones and the bomb
The 'evil twin' of climate crisis Scientists warn about ocean acidification
Researchers call for action on marine life amid fears that falling pH levels and buildup of CO2 in seas are not being taken seriously enough
Kyiv fights a 21st-century war against old tactics, but it can't do it alone
Since Donald Trump scolded Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the words “You don’t have the cards right now”, Ukraine has been keener than ever to demonstrate that it has a few up its sleeve.

Countries count cost of Trump's travel bans and taxes
When Essi Farida Geraldo, a Lomé-based architect, heard about partial restrictions on travel to the US from Togo as part of the travel bans announced by Donald Trump last Thursday, she lamented losing access to what many young Togolese consider to be a land of better opportunities.
My mother says she'll disinherit me unless I split with my partner
I have been with my partner for 14 years and we have two small children together. I have always had a complicated relationship with my mother, who was stern and a disciplinarian when I was growing up.

Chain reaction Is nuclear power back in fashion?
Spain’s recent blackout and AI datacentres’ massive energy needs are leading politicians to reach for the restart button

A refusal to be silenced
New projects honour lives and legacies of killed men

LA cleans up and takes stock after weekend of defiance
California leaders condemn 'authoritarian' president for sending in troops as protests over immigration raids spread to other cities
THE KING OF YOUTUBE
His videos are like the crazed imaginings of an 11-year-old boy. But is Jimmy Donaldson (AKA MrBeast) merely clickbait savvy - or an avant garde genius?