Damn, that's too bad!
I've torn my meniscus at rugby in September 2008, heard a pop when it happened, ended up having to have surgery and be told by the NHS physio that I should give up any sports requiring running and that being able to walk was 'good enough for him'.
The surgery (in March 2009) was fine though, left with minimal discomfort, swelling or scarring and was walking the same day, although only just now it feels near the strength it was before. I run once a week on it now and that feels good, looking to run more, maybe try yoga or pilates (don't mind if I'm the only man in the class) to get more flexibility and then more weight work to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee. I saw a sports physio at my club and he said I would be able to play on it, I just need to give it time, and to give it a good amount of rest, do more stretching than I did, this was arguably the reason I injured it in the first place, not enough warming up of the muscles.
I guess the achilles will be totally different though in terms of healing. Will they be doing arthroscopy for that?
I'd really like to get back into rugby or maybe even try American Football (as a lineman though - I did like to occasionally juke/sidestep, but am not really built to be a fleet-footed winger/wide receiver) and the meniscus reconstruction surgery they've been doing on athletes for the last few years looks like it should filter down slowly to everyone else (but if I go to the US and get a decent health insurance plan, maybe it'd be a little quicker than in the UK with the NHS).