When Will I Regain Strength In Elbow Joint After Undergoing Surgery?

surgery- elbow broken in 5 pcs. hello, I broke my left elbow joint in 5 pieces and got it operated 7 years ago. since that time my elbow doesn t extend completely and no full strength in it. I love to do weight training and doing it for last 2 years. however, all metal put into while operation is still in there and does hurt sometimes when I lift heavier weights. I want to know if I get it operated now and pull all metal out of it, how long would it take to regain some strength? and would i be able to gain more strength over the time? Thanks, Yogesh Dua