I have injured my MCL twice and took a good 5 months to fully heal both times. I am twice your age so you should heal in half the time.
I have been through a lot of knee problems including ACL replacement and find the MCL injury to be the most frustrating because the pain keeps coming back. I have used the same CTI2 brace since 1996 and really think it has saved me from several additional injuries on my now very loose right knee.
Here is some basic knee info if you need it:
http://www.kneepaininfo.com/kneecollateral.html