Des,
I am checking this thread, albeit not as frequently as I should (or did). My apologies for the delay in responding.
First off, I am sorry that you suffered this injury. It is nasty and difficult to recover from - no getting around that and no use trying to sugar coat it. That is the bad news.
Now the good news - it does get better. I am now post op 9 months. I get around fine. I can even run on it and I am planning to do a 5k in March. Is the injured leg a little bit weaker than the "good one"? Sure. However, it is a world of difference from shortly after the injury. You will get better. You just need to work at it.
Regarding your question about getting back to work: I think it boils down to what kind of work you do, and what your commute looks like. I have a job that is done virtually entirely over the computer and the phone. Because of that being able to telecommute was easy, and my employer was very accommodating. And my commute was horrible (90+ minutes one way). You just can't do that in a brace. Layer on top of that trying to sneak in PT sessions and it becomes difficult from a logistics perspective. If your situation is different, I think how quickly you can get back to work depends on how quickly you can get the knee brace unlocked so that you can get 90 degrees ROM. If everything goes according to plan that will probably be a month to to 6 weeks post op.
Like prior posts, I think the key to recover is to really work at the PT. It will be painful at first, but you have to keep with it. If they give you homework - do it. It means everything.
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions drop me a line. I will try to help.
- Tom Q.
P.S. - I almost forgot the most important thing. This response from other people will start driving you crazy: "I know what you are going through - I had an ACL tear." So what!?! ACL tears are for wimps!!!
