I have a good friend who, it sounds like, had almost the same experience as you are having (herniated disks, nerve blocks not working, etc.) and he has had surgery on that area twice (once for each "side") and had wonderful pain relief. He only gets bad pain when he overdoes it now, and he tries to be more careful with his back than in the past, has given up some strenuous hobbies but otherwise is doing great. The surgeries only took a day or two in the hospital (but they didn't let him out unless he was up and walking, and could climb stairs, etc.).