Decisions of a lifetime

Meeting with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. It has been six months of physical therapy and now I need to make a decision about my future. Do I continue to rehab and hope to get back to 100% with therapy alone? Do I risk having the impingement return or the partial tear get worse? My fear is that I will need the surgery eventually if the pain returns. I do not want to spend another chunk of time babying this thing if that is the case. I am at a crossroads. The older I get the harder the recovery and the longer it takes to bounce back. I am not ready to stop doing certain activities at this point in my life. Do I have to make a choice right now? If I have the surgery will my ROM and power be reduced as a result? If I don't what does the future hold - chronic pain and limited capacity for working out? I do not want to compromise. I don't think I should have to.
I know how the beginning of the second half of your life starts. Those aches and pains that the "older" folks often complained about when I was young is beginning to creep up on me. You never feel like you are aging until something out of the blue hits you that is totally unexpected. You always felt like you were invincible. You never thought you would get to a point when a little time off couldn't alleviate the hurt. This isn't just something that you can try to eliminate out of your routine to avoid a repeat. It is physiological in nature. Half a lifetime of old habits, bad posture, sitting at a desk job, hunched in front of a computer, a weak core, prior injuries - who knows.
You can't go back - so look ahead. A decision must be made with all its risks and consequences. What's it gonna be...
Time for that mental preparation that only someone who has lived half a lifetime can understand.