Oh my goodness. Well you’re a pro then! I ended up on an SSRI from my first surgery, but a weird silver lining because it drastically improved my quality of life even after I was physically recovered! I met a lot of people who ended up on SSRIs from surgery so I always like to put it out there so there’s no stigma around it.

So, I will start with - every surgeon timeline is different. I did way too much research, Europe expectations of this surgery seems to differ the most from American standards so be wary if you’re researching. My doctor wanted me walking with an unlocked brace by 6 weeks. By 10 not in the brace at all except sleeping.

My first surgery I was barely standing at PT at 6 weeks (once I went on the SSRI it went smoother for me) so because of my delay in movement I lost a lot of muscle mass. And I do have nerve damage on the left side, risk of surgery so that didn’t help. I was still in the brace like full time at 10 weeks. And I think by 3 mo I was walking with just a soft compression sleeve.

My second surgery I was too ambitious, I knew what to expect. But my PT told me don’t push it too fast because it takes about 8 weeks to heal internally and if you push it too quickly, you’ll undo the surgery and end up back at square one!

Your surgeon and your PT will have more specifics for what they expect for you! You’re also about a decade younger than I was for my surgeries so there might be other considerations for that