@handsdown And the good news is that you are "...working hard to increase range of motion..."!
The hard work will pay off. I sit here looking at my thumbs - had arthroplasty in both several years ago, and still have great range, and higher-than-average pinch strength for my age in my (dominant) left hand. The right hand is awaiting wrist replacement surgery in 3 weeks, after which I hope to recover my strength there. But my new hand surgeon (had to switch to get wrist replacement instead of fusion) was impressed by how well they function. His comment surprised me "you really did the work" - he said surgery is just step one.

Hang in there - I got to decent strength in 4-5 months, but kept on with the strength exercises past the 6-month mark, as did my close friend and neighbor - we have been super satisfied with our results. On the other hand, our neighbor who whined about PT and only did the minimum never got far in her recovery. I can garden, paint, do endless "handiwork" and even open jars and bottles.