Tennis after shoulder replacement?

I have been a keen club & competition tennis player for more than half a century but at the age of 63 now find that due to severe osteoarthritis in the shoulder of my playing arm that I need a full shoulder replacement. The problem was picked up more than 10 years ago but I decided against having the operation at this time as the various surgeons I consulted (half a dozen of them and all shoulder specialists) all gave me the same bad news - that tennis after such an operation was not advised or likely to be possible as the replacement joint would either come lose or wear out very quickly. So I decided to carry on gently and adjust my game appropriately in order that I could keep on playing.

However, the situation with the joint is now so bad that I cannot put off the inevitable any longer as despite serving underarm, and taking heavy doses of painkillers and anti inflammatory medication the range of movement is now so limited that any sort of meaningful tennis has become all but impossible not to mention, rather obviously, increasingly very painful.

Hence I would be very interested to hear from anyone here who has undergone a full shoulder replacement and is still playing tennis – at whatever level - or any other sports more generally. I am not unrealistic and don’t expect to be able to play as if I was 21 again (the rest of my body would not be up to it anyway!) but I am very keen on exploring the possibility that after proper convalescence social tennis might at least still be on the cards.

The type and make of any prosthesis used along with details of any specific problems or issues and the eventual outcome as regards playing post op would all be helpful things to know and also of course if anyone could recommend an orthopaedic surgeon who they felt was particularly qualified (ideally a tennis player themselves I suppose!) this would be perfect!

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