I think this is the right forum to post this in, but if it's not please feel free to move the thread.

My friends and I are going to Australia on April 8th for 13 days. Just this past weekend, one of my friends tore his right shoulder cartilage while skiing and needs to go into surgery. He will have surgery next week, on Tuesday.

He is thinking of canceling his tickets (combination of Virgin America, V Australia, Virgin Blue and Jetstar). I asked him to wait until after surgery to see how the recovery is going to determine whether he needs to do this or if he could still go.

Assuming that there would be no lifting of luggage required on his part (as we would take care of his bags), do you guys think that it's realistic to assume that he could make the trip? Have you traveled this far abroad (NYC-LAX-SYD-CNS-SYD-LAX-NYC in this case) after a similar procedure? Any advise would be appreciated.

P.S. I've heard numerous things from various people. Some claim that they were OK to travel after 4 weeks of surgery. Others have said that physical therapy lasts a long time and make it seem like they wouldn't recommend any traveling.