2 weeks out of ankle surgery, tips for efficient recovery?

Give it time . You be up and having more energy soon. It does come back.your bidy is busy healing and that takes a lot of energy. 

Hey I'm in a similar situation, I'm 22 and I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago (right tibia and fibia) and had surgery the following day and now have 2 screws and a metal plate.

Do you have a cast? I was told I didn't need one due to the metal work and therefore I could start physio straight away which I do religiously for around 5 hours a day but am getting SO frustrated as I can barely see any improvement. Sometimes I feel like the emotional side of the recovery is even worse than the physical side of things as I'm constantly crying over not being able to live my normal life and be independent. I'm a gymnast and the thought of 8 months (apparently) out is killing me.

I'm currently walking with crutches part weight baring but I'm scared to put too much weight onto my foot in case it damages the bones. My physiotherapist says he thinks I'll be able to walk unaided 4 weeks from now, but I've seen so many people talking about how it's taken them months so this has definitely dampened my spirits.

As for keeping active I've also attempted some arm cardio and other activities that don't require both feet such as sit ups, knee based push ups and one leg squats.

Anyway I hope you're feeling better soon!! I suppose it's just important for us to take things one step at a time (lol)

xxx

Hi. This is  the worst injury I've ever had. Your lucky I had to wait 2 weeks to have my surgery and start over from day one. I moved around between 3 caregivers which helped with my feeling like a burden. That was for the first 4 weeks. Once I got my stitches out I came home for the next month. I live alone and only had help with dinners being brought in. I didn't eat a lot, which I think is good otherwise I'd of gained to much weight. I pretty much just laid around resting my body during the healing process. I have 11 screws and a plate in my ankle. (I never realized there was that much room in there)Lol. today I drove my car for the first time. It felt great.  Remember, each day that passes takes you closer to a complete recovery. Like dory says just keep swimming, keep swimming.

I'm almost 13 months out and feel great now. Ankles take their sweet time and I hate to give you the news, but it will probably be very slow going, depending especially on whether you had surgery or not- measure your progress week by week vs. day by day. I wish I understood this from the start- the doctors don't really tell you this. I kind of thought after my trimalleolar fracture, with a plate and 13 screws installed, that I would have the surgery, be on crutches for a week or two (maybe a month), and then be back as new within a month or so. I was 56, and super healthy, energetic, athletic and light weight and nothing ever has kept me down for long. No one wants to tell you that you the truth, that you will be laid up for at least 4 months, have to learn to sleep on your back for months with your legs in the air on pillows and ice bags everywhere, that you'll be pretty bored, feel like a burden to those around you, have so much trouble doing daily things like eating, bathing, going to the bathroom, the palm of your hands will hurt like crazy from the crutches before you get clever and buy or rent a scooter, etc. Somewhere I read, most likely I would be feeling alive again in 4 months, pretty good at 6 months, and really good in a year to 18 months (but a lot of people feel really good at 12 months). That was exactly what I experienced, and several of my friends on this site experienced, so I feel it must be the normal path for this injury.  It takes that long to get back to almost new again, but most likely you will be just fine, unless you smoke (healing takes longer) or are not in great health or have other complications- then things may take a bit longer. It was common for most of us to hit our lowest point the second week and to be very worried about ever walking again. I obsessed a bit about the hardware in my leg and when I could get it out (it's still there and I never notice it now). I have always been a super positive person, and to get myself out of a self-pity funk at week two, I looked up Wounded Warrior sites and stories of people who had permanently lost limbs, and then snapped myself out of that attitude quickly, realizing even if I could never walk again, there are people much worse off. Luckily, my fears were totally unfounded. I got a knee scooter and decided no one wants to be around someone who is feeling sorry for themselves and left my talking about my injury to the support group here, who really understand and are interested in the daily trials and tribulations. Join in on life, and smile when you feel a bit like crying, and you will find happiness again very quickly.  No one wants to hang with a bummed out person, right? I now can run, jump, ski, and do everything as before. Every once in a while I feel the ankle is a bit tight for a few steps, but often I seldom think about my ankle anymore or have any problems at all. I would say without a knee scooter I might have gone crazy and I was lucky it was my left leg, so I could drive everywhere still. I just threw my scooter in the back of my SUV and crutched to the driver's door with my backpack (that's important to have), and went out regularly to run errands (allow extra time for everything though). It all works and you can get out and live life. If it's your right foot- try to get someone to drive you places or get things you need and or food delivered or if you are near a store get a basket on your scooter and scooter over there. I know it seems impossible now, but it will be a distant memory in a year. 

I just had my second check-up yesterday. They took off that God-awful, itchy splint that I had on for two weeks and did some X-rays. The bones look like it's healing nicely, but you can see on the X-ray that my cartilage at the joint has been damaged and I've even lost some, which is discouraging, because I know that cartilage takes longer to heal and could potentially lead to complications with arthritis and other when I'm older... They put me in a boot for me to wear for the next four weeks, but I'm still non-weightbearing. My doctor did tell me, though, that I can touch down to the ground while I'm standing up straight, but not to put excessive weight on the ankle. I can take the boot off when I'm just sitting doing nothing and my doctor told me to take it off 5-6 times per day any way to practice ankle motions for about five minutes. He also suggested I take Vitamin E to help with the healing process.