looking for friends and advice after third back surgery

 Hi my name is jeremy im 37 ive been in pain most of the last 8 years. i had my first back surgery (s1-L5) laminectomy/discectomy in 2002 the disc was ruptured and in shreds. after that surgery i often had pain but not dibilitating i was diligent w/physical therapy, made lifestyle changes such as giving up skiing, playing basketball, and stopped playing pool which was hard because billiards was my passion. i was able to able to control my pain with limited pain killers, ice and take short amounts of time off work.

 then about one year ago i started getting bad again and i had my second surgery (L5-L4) percutaneous nucleoplasty it was unsucsesful and the surgeon was pessimistic that another surgery would be of any benefit. after getting a second opinion my original surgeon agreed to try a laminectomy/discectomy. he said there was a 50% chance of no improvement and if there was any improvement there would be a 50% reduction of pain at best. well that surgery was last friday and after the surgey the doctor was still pretty pessemistic about the outcome because the disc was prtruding right into the spinal cord as oppossed to a nerve root which he said is easier to fix.

 The doctor told me to expect to be in pain for the rest of my life and ive applied for social security disability. he has me on vicodin every four hours which is not helping very much ive asked for something stronger and he has been reluctant but when i talk to him monday morning im going to be quite insistent.does anyone have any ideas what i should ask for. also im finding difficult to come to terms that i wont be able to work my social life has been reduced to zero after telling freinds no i cant do this no icant go there its geting so they dont call anymore and when i talk to anyone its always about my back and how am i feeling. sorry for being so long winded i just have alot of worries and alot on my mind.