Hi,
Since your post has so much info on it I placed a copy on our Spinal forums so you don't have to repeat it all. You might get more help on the details of the spine issues there.
( I added some paragraph/spacing as many have a hard time with large blocks of text)

We also have a Disability forum where you can find help for that part of it.

I would try to get some medicare or some sort of coverage - I just think the mass should be looked into more deeply - or do they think is it scar tissue of some sort?

Sometimes with chronic pain you do need long acting meds and not wait until the pain is beyond control.
We have a Medications forum for more info on that.

I'll just give you the main index page- you can scroll down to find those forums that interest you.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/index.php

I would try to get more consults & treatments before looking into the SCS.
SCS is more for a last resort when nothing can be done except to manage the pain.