I'm all for total abstinence. But are you sure cold turkey is the way to go? I mean realistically you have "actual" physical pain issues. Until you can maybe get deep into physical therapy or something for the actual pain, and some emotional therapy for the addction, maybe slowly weaning via doctor's orders is more feasible? I'm no doctor, and I don't know, but I hate to see anyone needlessly bounce back and forth between full-on and full-off, that seems unnecesarily agonizing and dangerous.
Just some things to consider asking him about...