I had arthroscopic surgery on my right shoulder around 1995. They had to shave off some of the bone that was pressing down on nerves in my arm, causing real bad pain.
My doc was real good, in that he told me it would be more painful for about the 1st month after surgery then before, but that then it would get alot better. So he was honest and up front with me. I would ask your doctor what to expect. I couldn't move my arm one inch after surgery without bad pain. But like my doc said, as i recovered it got lots better.
At the 3 week point i was at the doc, he wanted to see how i was doing. I'm the kind of person that pushes things. Sometimes thats good, sometimes not. I pushed myself, and the doc told me to move my arm different ways. When he got done he said "You shouldn't have been able to do that so soon." I said "Well.....nobody told me that!" So he had me throw away the arm sling right there.
I honestly think you should have a heart to heart with your doctor, tell him your concerns and ask him what to expect. You will have alot better peace of mind.