It sounds like your vet did a very bad job. Most declawed cats have what is called phantom claws. They still do their little claw action but there are no claws. The cats I have had that were declawed functioned exactly the same only they were unable to destroy things.
Cats even fight largely with their back claws. I adopted an old cat that had been declawed but still went outside sometimes. So I followed his previous lifestyle and let him go outside. He was TOUGH to other cats in the neighborhood. He was very large and had no problems at all. That is probably not best for every cat, but it was perfectly great for him. I think he was viewed as the boss of the neighborhood.
I declawed a male neutered cat when he started scratching my leather recliner. He was about a 1 1/2 years old at the time. He went outside for the rest of his life. He lived to be 18 years old. He had a great life and not having claws never seemed to bother him.