So I’m going through that same life choice as you right now.
I broke my ankle back in 2013, that took ages to mend and surgery and I couldn’t walk properly for near on 18 months. I decided to stop riding downhill after that injury and figured all mountain riding is better, safer and all round good for the body.
Over the years since about 2015 I have been riding more and more, And the native bike control was always there (comfortably riding down black and double black / red grade trails) but missing a lot of the a line gap jumps and things as a “if that goes wrong it’s going to end very badly”
Anyway fast forward to the 7th of jan, I was out on my local trails, a blue grade slightly down hill track with 3 small features that I have ridden close to 400 times. I’m going slower than usual “taking it easy” next thing I know I’ve clipped a tree at the second feature, my body’s twisted off the bike, knee has landed on the tree log feature and I roll down the hill in immense pain.
Luckily I had phone reception and the Strava emergency beacon came in to its own! It took the ambos and ses 2 hours to get me out of where I was, and I was in hospital for 15 days. I had a dislocated knee, broken tibia (read shattered) and fibula. I went through 3 different surgeries to correct the damage and now my legs non weight bearing for another 6 weeks or so while the breaks heal. I also have half a hardware store of screws and plates in my leg.
So not to put a damper on the whole thread (as it had a pretty good return from injury vibe going) but laying on the ground with a dislocated knee was something I never want to repeat, let alone the 15 days in hospital away from my family- and I haven’t even started rehab yet.
I guess the point I’m making is everyone has different circumstances, for me, my body doesn’t bounce like it used to. I have a young family with 3 kids, and also work in quite a physical job. My body at the moment is too important to put through this sort of accident again. So as much as I love riding bikes, and I’ve been riding and racing bikes since I was about 10, in this case keeping my body in one piece for longer wins.
Injuries suck and they are a part of what we do, but there comes a point where the risk vs reward scale shifts too far to the risk, and completely negates the reward for riding. That’s where I’m at now.
One day I may get back on a bike to follow the kids around the bike paths, but I can’t see that happening any time soon.
Good luck with your recovery op and let us know how you go