I am now one week post surgery.
The surgery involves sawing off the top of my upper arm bone, installing a metal stem in the hollow of the bone and placing the ball on the end of that stem with a polished metal ball that is then the new bearing surface of the ball-and-socket joint.
On the socket side, the original socket is reamed out to accept a new plastic bearing surface. Thus, the new joint has a metal ball in a plastic socket.
i have a prescription for some pretty powerful pain pills and they have been very useful. There are still periods during which the pain will ramp up for no reason that I can discern, and pills and ice help a lot.
The protocol at this point is rest, ice, pain control, and complete immobilization except for prescribed exercises.
The exercises are pretty basic, things like unweighted pendulum, flexing at the wrist, etc.
One of the nurses at the hospital told me her father had both of his shoulders replaced and that the results were spectacular. I liked hearing that.
I'll post again in another week. In the mean time questions are welcome and encouragement is appreciated.