Where on the East Coast are you? Some of the best knee guys in the country are here. If you had surgery in October then being on the slopes by February is pretty aggressive I'd say ...
Check out
Skwigg's blog ... she blew out her ACL doing martial arts (I think) and gives a good progression of her rehab and what her progress was like. She's super-fit and antsy and did really well.
You'll still be able to workout, but you'll have to modify. For upper body I don't see any reason why you can't continue with what you have been doing ... he'll likely have you in a hinged long leg brace ... if you workout with a partner, I'd just get him/her to swap out the plates. After surgery, you'll be in pain and kind of woozy for a few days/a week ... the timeline to return really should be set by your doc ... but for upper body stuff it usually isn't very long - around 2 weeks.
What procedure is he looking to do? What kind of graft (patellar tendon, hamstring, allograft)?
Read Skwigg's blog ... she probably answers most of your questions ...