Hi Christie,
Sorry about your injury.
I tore my ACL skiing back in Feb 2005, and just had the reconstruction surgery exactly 3 months ago today. The doc used a couple of my hamstring tendons to build the new ACL.
The first 7-10 days after the surgery was the worst part, due to the pain and swelling, but once that went down my general mobility came back fairly quickly. During that time, I was doing strength and ROM exercises 4 times a day. The athletic trainer that works with the doc assigned different exercises that I was to start doing beginning the day of the surgery. They weren't fun to do, but they really did help a lot with getting back on my feet. I was on crutches for about 10 days.
At 2 weeks post-op, I started physical therapy two days a week. They immediately got me on an exercise bike and started adding in more strength and flexibility stuff, including BOSU work, YEAH! At 7-8 weeks, the PT visits went down to once a week, and this week I got the OK to do all my PT at home.
I'm currently OK to do most straight-line low-imapact cardio (bike, elliptical, stair climber) as I please, and I can jog lightly on a treadmill. My PT also let me start doing some plyometric stuff as well - my training has been very skier focused and rather aggressive.
I'm definitely glad I had the surgery. While the recovery is a lot of work and working out, it's great to have a knee that feels strong again, even though it'll be another 6-9 months before it's back to normal. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
Take care. I hope your appointment with the specialist goes well.