Yep. I understand your medical condition very well. Your detailed diagnosis and mine aren't that different, but yours is more severe. The nerve impingement and chronic pain, loss of control and sensitivity we deal with is probably about the same in the arms/neck. And I have a facets problem at the bottom of my lumbar spine from a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago.

Now I understand your questions a lot better. I will still say that I think you will find the Tenkara option very enjoyable for small streams when/if you can come up with about $100 to get in to it. It takes a different mental approach to use a 10-13' rod on brushy small streams than what you're used to, but it works great. Using what you've got on hand, let me give you a few tips about how to get the most of what you've got:

1. The roll casting tips you've gotten here are good advice. Take those DT lines and pair them up to your longest rods, over-lining if necessary. Try not to under-line them, as that will force you to work harder to get the same load on the rod. Over-line too much, and a rod will "collapse" or "break down" under load. That means it just loses its parabolic curvature and no longer distributes the energy smoothly along the rod blank. This will cause a serious loss in energy transfer, increased vibration, etc. You'll feel it. Learn to be a master of the roll cast and even single-handed spey casting. You will be nothing short of amazed at what you can do without ever picking up a back cast!

2. Remember: it is all technique and none of it is about power. A 4' tall, 65 lb 100 year old lady could cast a fly 100' if she wanted to. So resolve to do nothing that isn't from a totally relaxed position that is easy and smooth to execute. The key word is smoooooth.

3. I assume from what has been said in this thread that you are a disabled vet. ??? If this is true, AFFI could assist you in getting assistive and adaptive sports equipment from the VA at no cost to you. Just like anything with the VA, this process takes time, there are a few steps, and there is paperwork. But there are some pretty incredible pieces of equipment out there...they're just expensive.