Porplyzia was forced from the ground in the opening five minutes of the Crows' clash with Hawthorn in round one, after his shoulder dislocated in an attempt to tackle.
The 26-year-old sought two medical opinions on his injured right shoulder, but the answers were the same and he was booked in for a reconstruction a few days later.
Porplyzia had the same shoulder reconstructed towards the end of the 2008 season and said he couldn't believe he'd suffered a repeat of the injury.
"I knew straight away what it [the injury] meant and what had happened," Porplyzia said on Wednesday.
"It was disbelief that I'd done it again, after going through two years of football and really not having an issue with it at all.
"It was quite a shock…and the first few days getting my head around it was pretty tough."
Porplyzia will spend another two weeks with his arm in a sling before graduating to fitness work.
The injury is slightly different to the one Porplyzia sustained in '08'.
The classy goalkicker said he was hopeful the less-invasive surgery would allow him to recover quicker, adding he already had a return-date in his head.
"The fortunate thing this time is that it [my shoulder] has failed in a different area and from what the surgeon said, everything that happened previously and the surgery they did before all looked really strong and robust," he said.
"I've spoken to the surgeon and from what he's done with the shoulder, he seems to think we might be able to speed the rehab along a little bit.
"Regardless of how the side is travelling, I'm going to be pushing to try and get back at the end of this season…but I know that if my shoulder is not right and doesn't feel right I won't be trying to push it."
Porplyzia said he was also be carrying less "mental baggage" when the returned from the injury for the second time.
"I think it took me a long time to get over [the injury mentally in 2008] because I'd had repeat dislocations, whereas this time it only happened [dislocated] the one time," he said.
"There's a recurrence rate and there's always a chance you can do it again…but it just must've been the position the shoulder was in [in round one] and the load it had to take at the time.
"It just didn't hold up and that could happen to anyone. It had nothing to do with the surgery I'd had before. It was just really unlucky."
Porplyzia was one of nine Adelaide players to visit the Starlight Express Room in the Women's and Children's Hospital on Wednesday.
The Crows Foundation, which is the independent charity arm of the Crows, contributed to the build of the room, which gives kids a place to escape from their hospital rooms or ward.
Porplyzia is on the board of the Crows Foundation and said visiting seriously ill children and their families in hospital helped put injuries such as his own in perspective.
"When you're going through something [a long-term injury] like I am now, it hurts to think about it, but it certainly puts it in perspective when you see the kids today and what they're going through," he said.
Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill
