The chronic pain dilemma

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My wife and my wife's sister suffer from chronic pain. I'm not talking about mild pain, but the kind that makes it difficult or impossible to have any quality of life.
My wife and my wife's sister treat their pain differently.

My wife has severe arthritis, degenerative back disease, and fibromyalgia.
She has had a hip replacement, a knee replacement, and the other hip and knee need to be replaced as well. Back surgery she won't even consider because of people we know who had it and were not any better off.
My wife takes 320 mg of oxycontin a day. That is more than some cancer patients take. She also takes vicodin when the oxycontin is not enough.
Though it is all doctor supplied, my wife is a drug addict and she knows it.
However, the alternative is that she stay bedridden.
With all the pain meds, my wife can do some things around the house and she can walk about 10 feet with a walker. On the bad days, she has a powered wheelchair.

My wife's sister was a nurse until she injured her back on the job.
Because of that injury, she will never be able to work as a nurse again.
She takes nothing for pain, and is in severe pain every day, but the way she sees it, at least she is not a drug addict. Back surgery may or may not help her. It works for some people and not for others.
Meanwhile, she is able to do less and less every day and she stays very tired from fighting all the pain.

I have had chronic pain myself. Mine was caused by Celiac Disease. I used to get severe, gut wrenching, abdominal pains until my doctor put me on a drug and a diet that actually helped treat the problem.
But, if my doctor had been unable to help me, believe me, I would gladly become a drug addict and not have to deal with the pain.
Drug addiction is no bed of roses, and my wife feels guilty because she is an addict. But to me, the dealing with severe pain or watching someone suffer is a lot worse.