1)
My injury was a full ACL tear. There really was not any damage to the other ligaments, I only had to do the ACL reconstruction.
2)
I don't ski at the same level, but I don't think that has anything to do with the injury. I took winter off my senior year in college, came back and graduated, then spent 4 more seasons in Tahoe. I had already decided that the season I blew my knee out would be my last year, I knew I was going to grad school the next fall. I now ski 35-40 days a year, not 120, so obviously I don't ski at the same level as I did when I skied everyday. I don't think there is any reason someone can't come back and ski at their highest level if everything goes well.
3)
Honestly, there were two bad parts. One was recovering from the surgery and getting back on my feet, what you are doing now.
The other was dealing with the fact that my ski bum career was over. My goal when I moved to Squaw was to hit the Chimney Sweep, which I never did. I probably pointed the tube about 30 times, straightlined Extra who knows how many times. The spring before my last year we had a huge April and I could not quite get myself to hit the Sweep. It was a tough pill to swallow that I was not going to get the Sweep. I blew my knee hitting Smooth Air on Granite Peak in early January of my last year. It was tough to accept that I was not going to get the sweep. If I had done the sweep before I got hurt that would have made things easier.
I got a brace made and tried to ski the rest of the season, knowing it would be my last one. I was a bit timid though, and by early March I realized I was not going to accomplish my goal.
It as also tough living in Tahoe without being able to ski the way I wanted. I got hurt, took a couple of weeks off, but like I said above I was not skiing full on. That was hard. I lived in Tahoe to ski. I couldn't leave because I was on the lease until the end of May. With everything shut and walking again you are through what was the worst of it for me. I was actually very glad to leave Tahoe at the end of May. I live in Newport Beach now, which is a much better place to be if you can't ski. The lake is beautiful, but I really had no interest in living there in the winter if I could not ski. During my years there I had plenty of friends who blew knees and it was always tough to visit them, usually depressing. One winter the guy I bought my weed from and his roommate BOTH blew their knees. I tried to be supportive, but I never talked about skiing when I visited unless they asked about it.
4)
For the most part, I don't feel any pain. Occasionally I get twinges, but it is no big deal. I think that if the surgery goes well and you do your rehab you can come back strong. I have never been bothered by the pain. Like I said before though, I barely skied my first year out, I concentrated on grad school, working out, occasionally surfing, starting about 9 months after surgery, and bars where the ratio was much better than Tahoe.
5)
I didn't really switch setup, but like I said I basically had a full year to recover after surgery.
My first year out of the mountains I was going to grad school and really focused on that, so I only skied a few times. That was probably good, it made it easier to let myself heal completely. My second year out I probably got about 30 days in, and I felt fine. If I had stayed in Tahoe I don't know how things would have gone the first year back.
I can't stress enough that rehab and training are your friends. You want to come back as strong as possible. If you are six weeks in you will be at around 9 months in early December. I would take it slowly at first.
I don't know how old you are, and where you live, but like I said before being in Tahoe without skiing during the winter was really tough. I was pumped for my buddies who were killing it on powder days, but it was still hard.
Best of luck. I chose to leave the mountains and I'm glad I did. But you can come back as strong as ever if you work hard.
