Life jacket/personal floatation device to assist swimmer w disability

I used to be a very good swimmer, and felt very comfortable near or in water.

But I now have a torn rotator cuff, and it isn't clear whether it is "fixable" (no medical suggestions needed, please - it's complicated).

I realized (in an almost panicked situation) that I'm no longer safe in the water, and that's not okay.

Is there some sort of life vest or other personal floation device that I could use so I could frolic in the water?

I would always have family nearby, but they aren't certified lifesavers (and I'm trying to avoid the need for any of those folks, not to mention there aren't always some nearby).

I've tried a sort of children's plastic blow-up inner tube, but that obviously pushed up into my armpits, and ... that's not at all the right thing for a torn rotator cuff.

I thought an actual life preserver would work, and tried one at a hotel in the Caribbean. But it wasn't the orange "Mae West" type.

Instead, it was relatively inflexible with a "hard shell" type of back, and it was very difficult to avoid floating on my back (think upside down turtle :( ).

This also meant I could NOT re-orient myself upright to walk out of the water on to the beach, also not okay.

I'm trying to find something that will let me float almost upright.

I've seen photos of a bunch of people wearing those orange life vests, seemingly floating like corks near each other.

If it fits me a bit around the torso, then it shouldn't be forcing so much pressure at the armpit, right under the injured shoulder.

Is there anything inflatable like that, so we could take it with us on outings to the beach, or even in a big swimming pool?

Thank you.

Have you looked at snokle vests? They are inflated by blowing in them, so you can adjust the amount of aid you need.

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We use a snorkle vest for the beach for our disabled family member. Suggest you blow it up before you enter the water and then release as much of the air as you need while you are swimming to keep yourself comfortable in the water. It is much easier to do this than to try to blow it up while you are swimming.

We have not had success in being able to us it in the ship pools. For some reason, although they allow children to have swim vests, not adults. So we look to see how deep the pool is around the pool lift area and unless it is four feet or so, we either don't use the pool or we have used a pool noodle to provide some stability.