Shoulder replacement needed: What can I expect?

Hello, again this evening @forge55. You certainly are a survivor and those are excellent questions given your special needs. I can only visualize it for you. I actually ran my business, using one hand. It was amazing how my customers stepped up to help me. I became a pretty good ambidextrous writer for sales receipts. I didn't do so well on the computer keyboard.
What I did have was an amazing friend who arrived shortly after I came home from the hospital. She and I were partners in an interior design firm.

She surprised me by appearing at my door shortly after I got home, carrying in suitcases, groceries, and things I might need. Kathy was so helpful and we worked well together. Then my daughter and granddaughters arrived for the weekend.

I think you will need some help until you are able to exit the immobilizer. Then....another idea is there are rehab facilities where folks without in-home assistance can stay much longer than normal.

You are already working to build up skills on your prosthetic.......that's great. I hope to see your name at the top of my morning contact list whenever you need anything. You are certainly an encouraging individual and it has been my pleasure to connect with you.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris

Hi to the group,

I am a generally healthy 73 year old who has shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for the end of November. I was diagnosed 10 years ago and surgery was recommended at that time. I postponed the surgery until recently when my symptoms got worse. I just read a new study that detailed how the average life expectancy for an American male is now 77.7 years.
For those of you that have chosen to have shoulder replacement surgery, do you feel that the gains that you have experienced after surgery were worth the discomfort of the recovery process?
I'm wondering if I should continue living with the pain or proceed with the surgery. I'm interested in knowing how folks that decided to proceed feel about their decision in retrospect.

As you say, the "average" life expectancy at birth of a male is 77.7 years.
But at 73, your life expectancy is 84 - maybe more if you are quite healthy. So, the question becomes whether you want to live with increasing pain & debility for that long, or tolerate a few months of recovery? Only you can decide.
Sue

That’s true.

"For those of you that have chosen to have shoulder replacement surgery, do you feel that the gains that you have experienced after surgery were worth the discomfort of the recovery process?
I'm wondering if I should continue living with the pain or proceed with the surgery. I'm interested in knowing how folks that decided to proceed feel about their decision in retrospect."

@tfarizona This is something only you can decide. You'll know when it's time because you can't stand to go on the way you are. I am 75 and had mine done 10 months ago. It took me about a year after diagnosis to decided that I could not live with the constant nagging arthritis pain in my shoulder. It took a major flareup that caused much more severe pain for two days that pushed me to say I did not want to go through that again. I had a reverse TSR last October, had good results and no regrets. Would do it again in a flash.
Maybe I am lucky, but I have not experienced actual hard pain with my TSR or either of my knee replacements. What I had was a dull general ache, that actually was preferable to my arthritis aches, because I knew it would be gone as the healing process went on. For me, my rTSR was easier than my TKR knees.

I had two reverse shoulder replacements last year…four months apart. I am 74. It was definitely worth it. I am out of pain and have a full life now…still work full time as a Realtor. Don’t spend the rest of your life suffering!