Broken Ankle/ Pain Killers :(

kaspatore

A friend of mine broke her ankle a few nights ago.

1. I want to bring her some healthy foods that she can heat up/ prepare very easily and will keep her on track for her weight loss. Looking for some ideas on foods to prepare for her.

2. Right now, the painkillers are also killing her appetite. Any of you who have been on them before know this. What things were palatable to you? I'd like to bring her something tonight.

Thanks for your input!

my_2_cents

Bring her a pizza or some pasta. She doesn't need healthy food, she needs food that tastes irresistible and will improve her mood. Healthy food can come in a few days.

SueInAz

Make up foods that she can easily pop into the microwave and reheat. Casseroles, soups and chili are all easy and nutritious.

As far as painkillers... I know that Vicodin can make me pretty nauseous. I've found that breaking the pill in two and waiting about a half hour before taking the second half helps immensely.

Bukovnik

Cannibis; at least if you're in a state where you can get a legal Rx

thesupremeforce

I don't have any food suggestions, but having broken an ankle, I wish your friend a speedy and relatively smooth recovery.

spiralated

Yes - have her ask her pharmacist if she can break the pills in half because some you can't cause of the time release formula. IT will probably still mute the pain (not take it away) but she won't have as many bad side effects. Easy to heat or eat. Not everything has to be cooked to be delicious. Also if you are making soup or chili remember the water/liquid will absorb/evaporate when reheating so you might have to add more.

You're a good friend

Including maybe one indulgent item, bring her things to do. She's probably gonna get bored.

AwMyLoLo

That is awful nice of you to do!

How about putting together a "salad bar" for her. Nice lettuce, cut veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, red/green/yellow peppers, green onions, raddishes, cheese, chopped bacon, chopped hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, croutons, etc.

You could package everything separately so she can make it how she wants, when she wants.

Yummm. Now that sounds good for dinner.

kr1stadee

Cannibis; at least if you're in a state where you can get a legal Rx

Honestly, I was going to suggest this LOL

It'll numb the pain and maybe she'll get hungry.. hahah

_Zardoz_

A friend of mine broke her ankle a few nights ago.

1. I want to bring her some healthy foods that she can heat up/ prepare very easily and will keep her on track for her weight loss. Looking for some ideas on foods to prepare for her.

2. Right now, the painkillers are also killing her appetite. Any of you who have been on them before know this. What things were palatable to you? I'd like to bring her something tonight.

Thanks for your input!

I think weight loss isn't really an issue at present. She just needs to eat and heal. Broken bones are painful (i've broken enough of them) so she just needs some food she can eat. Then in a few days she can look at what she is going to do long term. Personally I'd bring her the comfort food of her choice. If someone brought me a salad and I'd broken my ankle i'd probably kill them ;-)

jonnyman41

some really tasty home made soups since you said she has lost her appetite. that way she will still be getting plenty of vitamins (make sure there are lots of nice veg in the soup) Use butter to sweat the veg if you/she are concerned about getting in enough calories, otherwise coconut oil is a nice oil to use for sweating. Try different soups from the norm such as thai fish/chicken soups and maybe either buy or bake fancy fresh breads too. That way she can eat as little or as much as she wants

reginanna

I would suggest cold food in leak-proof tupperware and a tote bag.

If she needs two crutches to get around the house it is difficult/dangerous/impossible to carry things like hot soup from the microwave to the table. I also generally prefer cold foods when I'm a bit nauseous so that might help that problem as well.

Put some cooked grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet, ...) on the bottom, add some greens (kale is good because it's sturdy and keeps for while), fresh vegetables (shredded carrots, tomato, cucumber, mushrooms, etc) and/or cooked vegetables (roasted squash, cooked green beans, roasted egg plant, etc). Then add some protein (chicken, tuna, or canned beans, lentils, chickpeas and maybe some cheese (low-fat feta or mozzarella, or shaved parmesan). Give her the dressing separately so things don't get too soggy, and maybe a few different ones for variety. You could also make a healthy noodle salad.


Other options would be wraps, snack boxes with veggies and hummus, yogurt, quiche or frittata that can be eaten cold.

When I broke my foot the pain was bad at the beginning but once it went away I was back in the gym. If your friend wants to exercise then she can still do hand-cycling, the rowing machine, one-legged cycling (with bike shoes that have cleats, put the broken foot in the bottle holder), ab and upper body machines and even some leg exercises (inner and outer thigh machine for example). Some people say that rowing and cycling with one leg will make your muscles asymmetric but after 6 weeks or so in a cast you'll be asymmetric anyways, it's your choice if it's with one normal and one weak or one strong and one weak leg. I just continued cycling afterwards and my injured leg took on more and more of the work afterwards until they were equal again. But she should also check with her Dr. just to be safe.

I hope she heals fast, crutches suck (but give you really nice arms)!

mom2nicknat

I broke my foot 2 years ago and had surgery and couldn't put my foot down for almost 8 weeks.. It was complete hell only to be topped off by the fact that I gained about 15lbs from sitting all the time and eating crappy food that was quick because I couldn't cook. I would have given anything for someone to make me something healthy or stockpile my fridge with healthy, ready made foods!
I would say something she could eat some of now and freeze and reheat up later on.. Even ready to go breakfast sandwiches or wraps, something like that.

sofaking6

Anecdatum, when I had my ACL repaired I called the surgeon the next day to say that the vicodin was making me sick. He said to just switch to ibuprofen unless I had to take more than the daily allowance to get by. If your friend's dr okays that then she should at least give it a try. No reason to keep taking addictive pills unless you need them.