I had a re-build of my non-dominate shoulder a few years back. Biceps tendon tear, rotator cuff tears, labrum tears, impingement and arthritis. None of them alone were that bad but all together it was a mess. I was in an arm brace for only a few weeks - I didn't have the giant sling that completely immobilized you. I did a few PT sessions at the therapists office but that was just to get the basics back up and running - the arm extension on a table using only fingers hurt, and the placing the arm on a wall and walking it higher was a real bad experience. After a month, I started on the bands and quit when I was reasonably pain free.
It was stressed to me that the band exercises would need to be done for life to keep things working well. I've been bad about that but have every intention to pick it up again once settle in our new home.
I've NOT tested the shoulder at the gym under heavy loads but will do some light machine benches making sure my upper arm doesn't go past parallel. Getting old sucks, but getting old and being in near constant pain REALLY sucks...
Best of luck on the recovery - and pay attention to the PT!
