Appointment Information

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texasspondy
Member

May 26, 2012 at 8:54 am

Post count: 25

#6262

Hi Dr. Corenman, I have dialogued information back and forth with you here on my pars defect and I would like to ask some information on appointments for out of towners that I could not find on your website.

I live in texas, (Houston) and though I have seen a neurosurgeon, been given a conservative treatment plan, and told what my surgical fix would be, I deffinitely want to obtain a second opinion. I don’t doubt your physical interview/observation with me will be different than what my neurgosurgeon has spelled out for me, however, none the less, a second opinion will weigh greatly in my future spine decision. On to my question….

I am extremely impressed by your demonstrated knowledge, experience, patience, and testimonials on the website, so would like to schedule an appointment with you in the near future. I see that your webiste says many folks travel the world to see you. I have an mri from Sept/2011, of which I’m sure an updated one would need to be obtained for you. I have two different ESI’s performed, a bone scan, PT, back brace, etc so, if I come to see you, I can bring some of this with you but I guess I would just give your office the phone numbers to my neurosurgeon and PMS doctor to obtain all supportive documents??? Also I want to make sure I get the most out of my little time there. I could fly in, rent a car, and stay overnight at a hotel if necessary. I just want to make sure you get all imaging, mri’s, xrays, a physical appointment with me, and everything we need to wrap up in one appointment, since I can’t just get in the car and come back next week for follow up appointment, is this possible for us out of towners???

My next questions is really, is it even realistic for one to have a TLIF procedure done with you and either fly or drive back home (Texas). I am in the process of selling my house, right now, and a divorce to follow so I will be by myself in this adventure. I am thinking if you did a procedure that I would require a rehab center stay locally around vail for a couple weeks, then to get follow up appoinntment with you before I arrange transportation back home, possibly a friend drive me back to texas or a flight??? I realize we can discuss this in person but trying to get all information possible lined up. Thanks for your time and helpful information…

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

May 28, 2012 at 4:05 am

Post count: 8660

#6264

When you are out of town and make an appointment to our office, my nurses find out what records need to be obtained. The best way to obtain records is for you the patient to personally obtain and hand deliver them as some offices promise to send records to us but delays and failure to send happen not uncommonly.

I make every effort to look at your history and figure out what data is missing and necessary to obtain (CT scans, new MRIs, diagnostic injections and possible EMGs) to make an appropriate diagnosis. I then schedule those tests either the same day or the day after here in Vail.

For travel, most patients fly into either Denver International Airport and take a shuttle up to Vail (about 2 hours), rent a car or land at Eagle Regional Airport and take a taxi to Vail (about 30 minutes). We have special deals with local hotels (from good to resort quality). We have a service called “Here to Help” (run by a former Olympian Skier) that will help with all accommodations and flight information. Ask the nurses.

Most patients need two days in Vail for diagnosis if the problem is complex and only a one day office visit if the problem is simple (a disc herniation or some small surgery such as a lateral recess decompression or a cervical artificial disc replacement, etc.. ).

There are times that the surgery can be scheduled on the same visit if a simple problem (as noted above) can be diagnosed and surgery can be recommended. In your case with diagnostic dilemmas, the surgery should not be scheduled on the same visit as the diagnosis.

For surgery, many (if not most) patients travel from a distance. For a fusion, you would normally need three days in the hospital and 4 more days to stay in Vail. You can then travel home on the airlines and recuperate at home. It would be helpful for the first week after you arrive home that you have some help (family or hired help to cook meals and help with daily activities). After one to two weeks after fusion, most patients can to all their own daily activities on their own.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

texasspondy
Member

September 17, 2012 at 1:34 am

Post count: 25

#6964

Good Day to you Dr. Corenman,

Quick question for you sir. The best way to make an appointment to come in and see you is by which method? I called your local Vail office ( 970 phone #) friday morning and it was a recording for neckandback.com

So I saw the form on this website, under contact us, and I went ahead and filled it out with some information but it says if you are not a existing patient, this is not the preferred method for contact and may not receive a response. I’m just not 100% clear on a new patient making an appointment to see you.

Appreciate your time

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

September 17, 2012 at 10:34 am

Post count: 8660

#6972

The 970 number and the 888 number go to my nurse in charge of the web inquiries. The office number is 970 476-1100. Ask for Diana or Sarah.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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81 reviews

Eric S

Sep 26, 2021

by Eric S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Successful pars repair at 46 years old

Back in November of 2018 (at 46 years old) I came from Vancouver BC to have a pars repair done with Dr. Donald Corenman at the Steadman Clinic in Vail Colorado. I'm finally posting this review nearly three years later in late 2021. The reason I waited so long was I wanted to know the final result before I posted my review. Unfortunately in that time Dr. Corenman has retired. Nevertheless, I want to post this review of Dr. Corenman and his staff at the Steadman Clinic in their excellent treatment of my L5 pars interarticularis.

I fractured my pars at age 42 back in 2014 when rolling on the gym floor, and was denied treatment by the Canadian healthcare system, probably due to my age. First my GP told me there was no surgical option for a pars defect, which was quite incorrect! I tried to live with it, but the symptoms worsened (periodic random spine slippage and weeks of resultant pain after just bending over to tie my shoe, so I eventually learned to mostly squat and hardly bend). When I finally consulted with Canadian spine surgeons, I was told they believed my pars defect had been congenital (since birth). This was absurd, considering I had done extreme martial arts (including jiu jitsu) for years prior, as well as 5 years of reinforcing steel full time in my 20s, probably the hardest job on the back you can find. No pars defect like mine would possibly have allowed this--ergo it was impossible that I had had the defect since birth. I did however have an asymptomatic congenital spina bifida occulta that made me more susceptible to a pars fracture. In 2014 in one instant, I went from having the strongest back people I knew said they'd ever seen, to being unable to safely bend over and tie my shoe without a non-negligible risk of my spine slipping randomly (which would lead to weeks of pain after each occurrence). This was due to the unilateral L5 pars defect, otherwise known as spondylolysis. It was when lying in pain on the floor 4 years later after maybe the 6th spine slippage event post injury, that I had had enough, and resolved to have surgery. If Canada's "universal health care" said no, I would make lemonade from lemons, and find the very best surgeon in the world at pars repairs. That was Dr. Donald Corenman. Dr. Corenman back in 2018 ran a website https://neckandback.com/ that dedicated many pages to the science of every aspect of pars repairs, from eligibility (good discs on MRI), to best surgical techniques (minimal open compared to minimally invasive), best imaging to use (i.e., O-Arm with Stealth imaging vs. older fluoroscopy), the ideal amount of BMP to use and why not use too much or too little, and much more, all to do with pars repairs, pages upon pages of his site just on the pars, with scientific references and his own extensive expert opinion. As a health research statistician, I was very impressed with this. It was in stark contrast to the websites of other spine surgeons which barely gave the pars a word or two, focusing almost exclusively on fusions. I had found the best surgeon in the world for pars repairs, and so after Dr. Corenman personally screened my MRI to ensure my discs were healthy, I booked the surgery.

Being 46 years old at the time of surgery in 2018, with a 4-year-old pars fracture from 2014 combined with a congenital SBO meant my pars fragment was somewhat atrophied, but it was "very solid", said Dr. Corenman in the operative report. Nevertheless, it was challenging with two things to fix, the pars and SBO, and OR time was around 4 hours. Recovery over the following months was guided by a very clear "Spine binder" from the Steadman Clinic with strict rules of "no BLT" (no bending, lifting or twisting), and illustrated physiotherapy guidelines. They even warned patients to avoid fish oil supplements, which could excessively dampen inflammation and hence slow bone healing. They answered many questions I had during months of recovery, with responses coming from the very supportive Lori Fugate (then director of Dr. Corenman's practice), and Ehrich Bean (then physician's assistant at the practice), as well as a couple calls with Dr. Corenman himself after two of the CT scans. Ehrich Bean offered great advice for taking the spine binder conservatively due to the nature of pars repairs vs. fusions. The final post-op CT scan I had was a couple weeks ago at 34 months post-op, and Dr. Corenman had retired, but I got a very positive and informative call from Eric Strauch (current PA at the Steadman Clinic under Dr. Corenman's replacement there, and who had also worked with Dr. Corenman previously). The staff at the Steadman Clinic were extremely supportive all the way through the process. I should mention, the local Canadian spine surgeon did offer me very good post-operative support including antibiotics as needed to deal with a mild surface incision-site infection early on, booking numerous x-rays when I felt something was amiss, as well as booking all four of my post-op CT scans. I am very grateful for that support also.

My final result shows plenty of solid bone across the pars and a healed SBO, with my vertebral body now a solid bone ring instead of being broken at two places as it was pre-op. Does my spine hold up in the real world? You bet! I have recently dug and moved several yards of dirt and sand and gravel by myself (shovel and wheelbarrow!) to fix our water main, pulled roots from the yard, moved several "portable" (these are HUGE) air conditioners up several flights of stairs my myself, and lifted weights. I now run 2 miles (3.2 KM) several times weekly with a hard 100 meter dash in the middle. I bend deeply before each run I go on, with no spine slippage. My spine feels amazing. I can bend over to do exercise, or real word tasks, with no risk of spine slippage.

My sincere thanks to God, Dr. Donald Corenman, Lori Fugate, Ehrich Bean, Eric Strauch, and the Steadman Clinic, as well as the Canadian spine surgeon who offered me excellent post-operative care back in Canada. You have all given me a new lease on life.

Sincerely,
Eric S

Robert S

May 11, 2021

by Robert S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Back Fusion Surgery

I had my entire lumbar spine fused in November of 2018. I had scoliosis , with pinched nerves that were so painful I could hardly walk - and standing for more than a few minutes was impossible. Even sitting was painful.
The fusion surgery produced immediate relief! And the recovery was much easier than I expected.
To this day I can do all the activities I love from hiking, to standing in a stream fly fishing to riding my bike long distances - or just walking down the street with my wife.
Kudos to Dr. Corenman and his staff, (including the two Erics) for taking such good care of me!

Leslie R

Jul 9, 2020

by Leslie R on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

TLIF

I had my TLIF surgery on 6/24/2020 by Dr. Corenman, I can not say enough good things about the Dr or his staff. I was always treated with respect and explained everything throughly, that made it easy for everyone to understand. I highly recommend Dr. Corenman and the Steadman Clinic.

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