ACL and meniscus tear pain after 3 years

So I tore my left ACL and meniscus 3 years ago and I never got surgery because my first doctor told me that my MRI only showed an ACL sprain but the pain came back after 2 weeks then 3 weeks physio then another 2 weeks rest. I changed doctor, brought my old MRI and he said my ACL and meniscus were both torn and needed surgery but I needed to do another MRI to confirm. Did the MRI, doctor said only the ACL was partially torn so I only needed 1 month rest. Over the past 3 years, I would have weeks where the pain was really bad and had to tape it to function and I would still be limping. I don’t know what to do because I just rediscovered my passion for swimming, am still a student and my dad doesn’t want me to get surgery but the pain and the inability to fully bend my knee is really affecting my daily function. Anyone that has any advice, please help.