@jakedduck1 and @artist01, This remains the most outstanding medical mystery of my life so far and neither my thoracic surgeon sil nor two orthopedic surgeons can explain it other than that the medically unsupervised home pt I did may have made the difference.

Before my youngest gs's birth, I was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and all three surgeons recommended surgery. Even I could see the tear on the scan. I put it off until after our newest arrival. Due to extensive pt after earlier fractures, I still had some of the "stretching" items and worked them. I am certainly not suggesting that this would work for any other person but it was an unbelievable experience to regain use of that arm without pain eventually. Some things are just weirder than weird, yes?