Others have given you plenty of good advice. Listen to your Dr and give yourself time to heal. But I want t let ou know that I understand just how you feel about aikido and how much it has helped your state of mind and in dealing with your problem because I have much the same feeling about what aikido has done for me. Missing one class for me is a cause for a great deal of anxiety and distress but it does happen from time t time and you will get through it. Trust me the only way you are ever going to have to quit aikido is if you actually chose to quit.
I have an old shoulder injury myself. Tore the rotator cuff about 20 years ago i a wrestling match with a horse. (I won... sorta) It was indeed excruciatingly painful for a long time. It took probably 6 months to get back to almost normal and it still bugs me from time to time. But it does not stop me.
Two years ago while preparing for my 5t kyu test I moved badly and tore the media meniscus in my right knee. Again. Extreme pain for quite a while. I was off the mat for a month. It delayed my test by 2 months and I was very cautious in training for the next 6 months before it started to feel fully functional again. During that month of the mat I still went to every class. This was a feat since I drive a stick shift and driving was not real easy on me. Luckily my dojo mates helped me by picking me up and driving me most of the time. A huge deal considering how far I live from the dojo. But went to every class. I sat and I watched and I took pictures and short videos which my dojo mates found useful. While I have made a god recovery I also know that I ca never do certain things in the dojo again. No swari waza or hanmi handachi for me. No shikko and only enough seiza to bow into and out of class. I'm disappointed by that but I still have aikido.
A few weeks ago Dan Messisco sensei came and taught a seminar at our dojo. In the evening at the dojo pot luck we held for him he told stories and talked to al of us and I heard many interesting things. But the thing that really stood out was how he sat talking to a older gentleman (in his70's) who was talking about ow he can't do aikido anymore because he can't take the ukemi anymore. Dan sensei looked at him and said you ca always do aikido. Aikid is not ukemi. Aikido is not just techniques. There is much to explore and learn in aikido even without being about to fall down or go trough entire techniques. Dan said he could not imagine that there would ever be a time in his life when he would feel that he had to stop doing aikido. I found that very encouraging.And so did the gentleman he was talking to who has since begun coming to class again. I'm kinda glad because I get a lot out of training with him. You can learn a lot even if your partner can't fall down too.
