I had ACL surgery too, but not with a cadaver... They gave me that option, but told me it wouldn't last as long either, so they took a piece of tendon from my knee (rather than hamstring). Also, from a sports medicine doctor, who tend to be more aggressive and focused on letting you go back to sports.

I didn't feel "normal" until about a year later, after surgery. I had PT for many weeks, but even after that was over, I wasn't with full movement/flexibility. I had to get "second" dose of PT about 5 years later to "tune up".

I was able to ski 18 months after surgery with no problem whatsoever.

Now, 10 years post surgery, I can tell you that I think that knee is better than the non-surgery knee and I joke that I need to get surgery on the second one to match the first.