After mounting the Bayer frame and making a dummy leg out of trousers and a boot I started studying the manual. The next morning I ordered dicaine and it was not long before a patient came. It was a guy from the mine, a closed fracture of the shin. The poor fellow groaned shaking and grinding his teeth. Who knows? Maybe my heart was pounding harder but my hand did not tremble when I palpated the fracture site and plunged the syringe needle.
«Oh! It is better…» the guy heaved a sigh of relief. I also sighed…
It was even easier than I expected. I added weight, fragments stretched and I joined them. After they all were in place I soaked bandages, made the stapes and round plaster. I did everything quietly, slowly, talking with the patient. The x-ray revealed that reposition was perfect. My «first pancake» was magnificent and brown.