Hi Kris,
I'm getting ready to renovate a bathroom for a friend of mine. It also has a tiled shower and tile half way up the walls a the way around. I don't know what condition the stud are in, the home is 30 yrs old. The plan is to cut the drywall from the studs in sections with the tile in tact. Then inspect the framing, and install new 1/2 drywall. The plus for me is, my friend has two big, strong, scrapping sons.