ACL reconstruction in 2 weeks

Hi everyone

I ruptured my ACL in late November last year playing 5-a-side - basically went over the ball at full stride and buckled over on the hard surface. Knew it was bad when I felt the notorious popping sensation - hurt like hell!

Managed to get an MRI a few days later but the swelling (or perhaps the diagnosis) was bad enough for them to think it was a cartilege injury at first, however the arthroscopy I had earlier this year confirmed that the ACL had detached from the femur and reattached itself to the PCL. So I'm finally booked in for the reconstruction in 2 weeks time.

I'm very excited about this, if a little nervous, as the knee hasn't felt stable enough since the injury to do any exercise, which has been killing me TBH. However I simply can't wait to get back to playing soccer again which has been the biggest frustration. I know it's going to be a long wait afterwards with some intense physio, however I've been patient enough until now so I know a few more months can't be too bad.

As luck would have it, I have the same surgeon that repaired my brother's ACL about 4 years ago following a similar injury. That was a patella tendon graft, which is why he wants to go down the same route given that my brother's op has been a success (he is back to playing both 5 and 11-a-side football again now). We discussed both options and even though there are pros/cons for both we seemed to concur that this was the best option. He's says that given I'm a 30-year-old male in good shape and good health otherwise, that despite the fact that some of the extreme mobility may never return there is no reason why I couldn't go back to playing again within the next 9-12 months.

So is there anything I need to do to prepare/brace myself for/be sure to ask? Will obviously be back to report the progress as this place looks like a great resource for people suffering this injury.

Thanks
TAG