Cast-rophobia - My cast didn’t make it to 6 weeks post-op and died a horrible death.

Cast-rophobia (cast anxiety) was very real (to me anyways) . I don’t know what caused it or maybe it was just the power of suggestion. (Stop reading if I’m going to jinx any cast worry on you!). I generally have a high tolerance for pain and uncomfortability, but I never experienced anything like this before.

We were posting in another thread comparing time lines about how long our casts would be on. Someone mentioned "castrophobia" and I didn’t think anything of it because my first 5 weeks in a splint/cast were uneventful. However the 2nd and last cast was put on a little tighter, but I thought it’d loosen a bit as my leg atrophied more and the compress underneath the fiberglass would "break in" like in the first cast.

At this point, I believe the catalyst for the behavior was when I rode the stationary bike last weekend. I’m thinking the activity "woke" my foot up. Now, subconsciously, I’m wanting move my foot around, rotate my ankle, crack / flex the toes, scratch - the usual things you do with your foot that you take for granted. I’m not a jittery person (like those types that do the nervous leg shaking), so this comes as a surprise to me.

I’ve been unusually busy, work stressed and somewhat sleep deprived this week which made the symptoms worse.

Oh the symptoms - where do I start… I think the feeling of inescapable confinement was the worse. My ATR’d foot also felt hot, stuffy and started to itch inside the cast. No amount of ice packs would make it go away. This lead to restlessness and irritability - you can ask my wife… I started feeling this on Tuesday night 8/24, so I decided to move my cast removal appointment on 8/31 up to Thursday (8/26 soonest appointment) knowing I would be demanding for my cast to be removed early. The symptoms got worse on Wednesday night. I tried a lot of things to get my mind off the uncomfortableness - went to the grocery store, bank and gas station at midnight, chewed gum. I was hoping to tire myself out so that I could crash quickly, but when I got home the anxiety got worse and I couldn’t sleep. 12 hours to the appointment seemed like an eternity. I reckon some Xanax or left over pain pills might have helped but I needed to be awake and alert for the next day.

As a lot of you guys stated here, I own my leg and it’s well being. This reminder gave me the push to do the needful. Mr. cast didn’t make it past 2 a.m. The Dremel tool would have made too much noise that time of night so off it came with tin snips and into the trash in two pieces. I slept like a baby.

Woke up rested, put my boot on NWB, got to work, gave a presentation to my V.P. and went to the Dr’s office.

The Aftermath: I go into the Dr’s office, and told the medical aid what happened and why. She was not happy and gave me the evil stink eye. They put me on a patient bed, leg raised on a pillow, boot off waiting for the Dr. to chew me out. Might I add, the amount of hard, dry, flaking skin is incredible. I need to grab a pumice stone when I get home tonight and start grinding away… The Dr. comes by, and I give him my explanation. He checks my leg for healing and asks about what kind of pain I’m in and I say "none, my leg feels great other than the episode". He says he’s seen crazier and worse things and totally understood my reasons. I ask a few more questions about PT, washing the wound, weight bearing and my next appointment.

What next: NWB boot for 5 days, then WB and PT. But I’m already PWB/FWB much sooner than that. I come back and see the same Dr. in three weeks.

Back to work, I can scratch and shower, life is good.