Replying to Torn meniscus

so i was skiing back in late june to early july and i was feeling some pain in my knee, i thought about it and hoped for the best and just ruled out any serious damage because the pain wasnt so bad and i was still skiing pretty hard with little to no pain. so fast forward, i go to the doctor about 2 weeks ago and my doctor has me schedule an mri, i get the mri and make a follow up appointment at the doctor and he tells me my meniscus is torn, but he thinks it might be able to heal on its self so he gives me a cortozone (sp?) shot and sends me out, im supposed to go back in the 15th to get a follow up and see if i need surgery and im wondering, who has torn their meniscus? did yours heal without surgery? how long is recovery if you get surgery, how long without surgery?