Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that one of the things you are struggling with is having pain and not knowing what to do about it. No one knows the difference between allowable pain vs. bad pain except the one experiencing it. If you are already on Vicodin you may be lucky to be missing some of the pain but if you are still experiencing pain, try to rate it on 1-10 scale used at doctor's offices, hospitals, etc. Then use the scale to track your pain before, during and after excercise and on days and nights you don't excercise at all.

As far as excercise goes, I agree with Nide44 - do not push it or you may experience pain that you just don't want to have - trust me!

Good Luck to You,
nancyh