Maybe this is just a "front" to take the Vicodin again.
He can still lift weights, have sex, mow (the pain is in his neck and down his right arm, they fused together his spine two years ago)
He has almost unlimited access to money (his own) so that is never an issue. Work is also not an issue, he has a lot of freedom in that respect as well.
I feel like I am totally being played now by his "pain".