My husband had shoulder repair November 25th and has had horrible pain since day one with no improvement in almost 16 weeks. He wore that huge brace/contraption & after 6 weeks his doctor had him start PT. Painful as expected but his range of motion was good but the pain seemed to intensify. After almost 7 weeks of PT , they told him they were going to discontinue therapy and he needed to see his surgeon as he shouldn't be in the amount of pain he is. He got in to see doctor & an MRI with contrast was order & done 3/10/25. Doctor also felt he shouldn't be in this amount of pain. These were the results:

FINDINGS: There are changes of interval rotator cuff surgery and biceps tenodesis. There is a small partial-thickness defect of the undersurface of the insertion of the supraspinatus tendon which could be due to a persistent postoperative defect or a tiny recurrent partial-thickness tear. No full-thickness rotator cuff tear is noted. No significant rotator cuff atrophy. Moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the AC joint. There is an effusion of the AC joint. There is a tear of the posterior glenoid labrum, likely unchanged from previous exam.

IMPRESSION: 1. Interval rotator cuff repair and biceps tenodesis. Possible small recurrent or residual partial-thickness undersurface tear of the supraspinatus. No full-thickness tears or rotator cuff atrophy.
2. Tear of the posterior glenoid labrum, likely unchanged.
3. Moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the AC joint.

We had a follow-up appointment with the doctor (so we thought) but saw the NP instead who said my husband should have been scheduled with the surgeon. My husband has had 5 post-op appointments and only seen the actual surgeon once. We find that odd, but maybe not? Anyway, the NP is very nice, thorough and explains as much as possible but is not able to make any recommendations of what's next. We did ask her about the various shoulder replacements rather than going back in for just a repair & it failing or having to come back in a couple years for a replacement. She understood our concerns & said those are good questions to ask the surgeon. For those who've already been through this we're wondering what questions/concerns we should ask when we go back on the 14th for an actual appointment with the surgeon so that we can make an informed decision. Thank you.