Six months post-op. I am 78 years old.

I had two months of physical therapy, starting two months post-op. At the same time, I was given twice-a-day exercises to do at home. After the two months of PT, I continued a regimen of twice-a-day exercises, and I am still doing them. At that point I was able to return to my three day a week volunteer job at the hospital, pushing wheelchairs, giving directions, checking people in to surgery and clinics.

I am virtually pain-free. There is slight pain when I do the exercises that involve lifting my arm to the side and over my head, and I still cannot sleep for more than about 15 minutes on my right side (the surgical side). Both of those conditions are slowly improving. It is slowly getting easier to lift my arm straight out to the side.

My primary range of motion limitation is that I can't reach around to the middle of my back. In fact, I can barely access my right rear pocket. Also, I cannot quite reach as far overhead with that arm.

The surgery was definitely worth the pain and inconvenience. I strongly recommend using an ice machine for the first couple weeks after surgery; it made that tough period much easier.