I mentioned I try to take time on Fridays for some reflection time. My father had surgery last week. It got me thinking about other surgeries, which lead me to think about Yona. She’s our youngest black bear. She arrived at the Museum January 15, 2010, at just under one year old.

We noticed pretty quickly she had a bit of a limp, and her right front leg had some atypical curvature. It didn’t impact what she could or couldn’t do, but it seemed severe, so we took her in for radiographs and scanning. Over the course of several diagnostics tests, we learned she needed surgery to remove a fragment of bone in her elbow.

Check out these photos from her testing and surgery. NOTE: Yona, almost 11 years old now, is doing very, very well, so come on by and say hi to her and her fellow bear-mates.

Below are a few pictures from the actual day of the surgery. It seemed like just about everyone from the Vet School came out. Personal from Rex Hospital even came by and dropped off specific tools that would be helpful for the procedure.