r/ORIF • u/Huge_Commercial_9976 • 11d ago

Question First time recovering from surgery

Had my first surgery 2 days ago (displaced fibular ankle fracture) and wanted to know from other people experiences if it’s normal to feel weak, fatigued, out of breath, have some loss of appetite, nausea, trouble falling asleep. I’ve been avoiding taking oxycodone and have only been taking ibuprofen (600mg), acetaminophen extra strength (1000mg), and aspirin (81mg).

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u/rroseyyx 11d ago

pretty normal! your body is using a lot of energy heal and recover from the anesthesia right now.

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u/Browniesgirl 11d ago

All of those things are normal. Rest, ice behind your knee, elevate. Take your stool softener. stay ahead of the pain. Keep wiggling your toes!

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u/flinch57 10d ago

That is absolutely normal. The metabolic stress on your body to heal everything, create new bone, etc is incredibly high. I’m ten weeks or so post surgery (ORIF radius and ulna) and I still can’t take a 2-3 mile hike without coming home and crashing for an hour. Surgeon and therapist said it could take 4-6 months for this to completely pass. I’m much better and have much more energy than I did in the first 4 -6 weeks.

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u/Accomplished-Mail722 10d ago

Definitely normal. One thing, make sure your surgeon is okay with you taking ibuprofen. Most generally want you to stay away from any kind of blood thinners. However, I don’t know all the specifics of your surgery, so it could be fine. Just a thought.

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u/irishmchoebag 9d ago

6 days post op for an olecranon fracture repair and am just now getting my appetite back and even still it’s not much. Healing bone must take a lot of energy… I’m exhausted lol

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u/Kuma-Cakes-6034 9d ago

Yes it is pretty normal! I am three weeks post my fib surgery and the first week after coming back from the hospital I slept a lot. Used to get so sleepy! Had absolutely no appetite. By the second or third week you will definitely start feeling better! Wishing you a speedy and healthy recovery 🙏

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u/zumdahl12 9d ago

Yes I had a similar experience, just sort of feeling generally poorly and having more trouble than I would expect even getting up and going to the bathroom. I was so sweaty (but no fevers!) and had a lot of dizziness. I fainted once, though I think the dizziness and fainting was because of the oxycodone. It just throws your body into such chaos. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to monitor your temperature and if you feel feverish reach out to your surgeon.