ACL surgery, should I go for it?

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/knee-ligament-surgery/
If I were in your position, I wouldn’t bank on TSR (or any other online forums) to have many, if any, people who have previously had such a surgery or better yet qualified doctors to ask.
Hopefully the NHS guidance is useful in making a decision, though I do rather expect it will repeat much of whatever you’ve already heard.
I do hope whatever decision you make is the right one.

It sounds like you’ve made incredible progress with your knee, especially considering the circumstances. Personally, I’d probably lean towards giving the surgery a shot if getting back to activities like basketball and running is really important to you. It seems like your leg has adapted well, but if you’re still facing limitations and want to push your boundaries, surgery might be a good step. I totally get how the risk of losing more movement is daunting, but if you’ve got a trusted specialist and are in a good mental space now, it might be worth revisiting. At the very least, you could ask your doctor about the latest info on recovery outcomes and what to expect.

Yes
Rehab is brutal but your knee will be back to normal function, unless you are playing some high level sports you won’t tell the difference

Around 10 years ago I was hit by a car and had my ACL and meniscus torn. I had an operation on my meniscus and was recommended to do the ACL surgery later because it is a chance I will lose some of the movement of my leg in a surgery and the recovery would be long anyway. I did good in physio and if I wear the knee brace I can even run. I can't jump and can't sprint, but I can run slowly.
I had tried to schedule a surgery several times with a good specialist but it was canceled every time I tried (covid, I was in a bad mental stage, etc...). Now I'm considering the surgery because I'm pretty much limited anyway in my leg movement and it bothers me a lot. On the other hand, my overall recovery is amazing, even doctors are shocked how good my leg does with a torn ACL. In the daily life you can hardly notice the limp, the stairs are a bit of a problem without the knee brace or at least the tapes, but I can handle it well. I do biking and swimming. However, I want my freedom of movement back. I want to play basketball and run.
The thing with risking loosing even more movement if the surgery 'fails'* is scary, but there is a chance to come back to a full function.
* 'fails' doesn't mean a real failure because the surgery mean to stabilize the functionality of the ACL and the knee in general which is what it will do, but maybe the movement would be limited like now with the brace and tapes. So if I'm improving without the surgery, going for a surgery has a chance of sort of step back with a little change for a real improvement afterwards.
What would you do in my place?

Definitely do an ACL reconstruction surgery. There is nothing worse than getting older and lacking that stability that the ACL provides its there to bring back that quality of life that you've been suffering from for 10+ Years
If you haven't already I would recommend searching for private hospitals that accept NHS patients. If your GP is able to refer you to one of these hospitals you don't need to worry about paying for it at all and typically you get seen very quickly.
ACL recovery is rough in the beginning but it takes at least 6 months to do light jogging and at least 12 months to return to activities like basketball

Thanks a lot, but I'm not from UK. Anyways, thanks for the input.

where u from?
did u get it done btw yet

Hi, OP!
I had ACL reconstruction surgery and it was a game changer for me. I was an athlete when I was in high school. I tore mine playing field hockey when I was a freshman.
I'd recommend talking to a doctor and seeing what they would say. Are they willing to do the surgery after 10 years?
It took me 9 months to fully recover from my surgery with healing and physical therapy. I continued to play sports clear up to when I graduated. I do still have problems with that knee and I do have to wear a knee brace. But I still wouldn't change anything to keep from injuring it.

Thanks a lot for your reply!
I did kinda gave up sports. I'm 34 and if I won't gain much movement freedom in that knee compare to the current situation ( I did recover very well and I can play with a brace, not jump or something like that, but I even run, not sprint). Things I can do now with a torn ACL are amazing. I know it won't last long but I'm afraid that after the surgery It'd be the same, just after a long recovery, again.
I know I will have to have a surgery at some stage and the earlier I do the faster and easier the recovery is, but I am still afraid.

Israel.
Not even scheduled yet. Still full of doubts.

Did your doctor say if your knee would become arthritic if you didn't get it done? I was told mine has that possibility. But I also didn't do mine any favors by being a softball catcher.

I'm familiar with the risks of not getting a surgery and as well as the surgery itself. I know I will do it someday, there is no other choice. I also know that the sooner I do it the better the chances for recovery are but a 50% chance now is not so appealing. I mean, I've done a huge progress without the surgery and I can function well now. Loosing it in case of a not so successful surgery is a huge downgrage for my lifestyle.
Long recovery is also scary. I've already had a long recovery from the accident and from the unexplained vertigo and I'm still under monitoring. I don't know if I'm in a right mental stage for another long recovery. What I know for sure, now it is not the best time for depression over these things. Mental stage is also very important.

I know what you mean. When I got my surgery, I was aching to get back out on the field and play again. But I went through a couple of bouts of depression throughout my recovery and I even had my grades slip somewhat because of it.

Sorry to hear that. Hope things are much better now.
I'm not in the best mental stage for the surgery or recovery now, plus the whole situation here is not that stable so I'd better wait.
Thanks a lot for your response, it is exactly what I was looking for, a response from someone in a similar situation.

I'm better now compared to what I was. My depression came from my recovery with the frustration of working the knee and going through the pain of trying to get it to recover from having the ligament reattached.
I probably wasn't in the best mental state because I wanted back out on that field in the worst kind of way. Plus I think I pushed myself harder than I should have.
I'm now 8 years out from my surgery (I'm 22 now and had my operation when I was 14). But I'm now 12 weeks along with a pregnancy and I couldn't be happier to be carrying a little one that I know is going to play havoc with my knee later on