At Wits End with UK Doctors

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razzandy
Member

July 31, 2012 at 10:17 am

Post count: 7

#6632

I have been having neck pain for over 12 months now and on 2 occasions I have been in lockdown with it excruciating pain. At the same time as the lockdown I had tingling sensations in my hands mostly in my right. Due to the on going neck pain I had several visits to the GP and with persistence I eventually got an MRI Scan. After the scan they gave me a disc with all the images so I went to work finding out how to read them and with help from your videos I came to a self diagnoses that I have spurs on C3 and C4 which are applying pressure to my Spinal Cord. Also I can see Dehydrated Discs: C3-4 C4-5 C5-6 and C6-7. There are also unusual nodules against my cord that I am not sure about and also a brighter area on the spurs which I think indicates some fluid leakage? When I finally got the diagnosis call I was amazed with what they said. They have basically said I have degenerative affects (wear and tear as she put it) and some dehydrated discs. This is nothing of any real significance and we should try physiotherapy! I asked to see a specialist and She agreed but then went back on her decision and asked specialist to review the scans. The specialist also agreed with the initial diagnoses. BUT…. I don’t know if he was a specialist who reviewed the scans or not. He never spoke to me directly! So I was wondering if I could send you some jpg images of my MRI to see what you think? I would really, really, appreciate your onion because I currently think I am being fobbed off by a Musculoskeletal Department who have already admitted they do not know how to read an MRI Scan! They have a private Clinic Perform the MRI Scan for the NHS then send the report to the Musculoskeletal Department. Thanks in advance…..

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

August 1, 2012 at 12:11 am

Post count: 8660

#6639

I’m sure you are aware that your story is not uncommon with the NHS. You can copy and send the copy of your DVD disc to me at my office. I do read these and throw in my two cents if you so desire. You can call my office at (970) 476-1100 (USA) for further instructions.

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.

razzandy
Member

August 2, 2012 at 8:53 am

Post count: 7

#6646

Thank you so much for your reply Dr. Corenman its much appreciated.

Is there anyway of me sending you just a few images first via email, Facebook or I could share a folder on my MSN SkyDrive or even upload them to my works web server where you could view them online at a web address. I am just concerned of the disc getting into the wrong hands on its way to you as it will be coming from UK. It contains a lot of my personal details. Hope you can understand.

Thanks again for your very kind reply

Kind Regards

Ryan
In Rainy UK

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

August 2, 2012 at 9:04 pm

Post count: 8660

#6650

I understand your concern sending images through the post but I receive images from all over the world every day without much problem. I have not yet figured out a way to have them delivered electronically without glitches. In addition, the information transmitted is not anonymous if that is a concern.

Also, MRI and CT images need a program to view them and this typically accompanies the DVD the images are burned on.

If you have any ideas regarding image transmission that would solve these problems, please let me know.

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.

razzandy
Member

August 3, 2012 at 5:41 am

Post count: 7

#6654

Thanks Again Dr. Corenman

The program allows me to export the images as .jpg files so I have uploaded just 6 for now. There are 3 images but I have reproduced them while zoomed in. If you need any more please let me know.

The images can be found at the below addresses. Just enter the image to the end of the address. I had to do it like this due to forum restrictions.
h t t p : // home DOT btconnect DOT com / ez b u y / images / neck /

img5.jpg
img6.jpg
img7.jpg

img5zoom.jpg
img6zoom.jpg
img7zoom.jpg

Just to add: have you had any experience of Patients suffering from a bulging feeling in the throat in conjunction with Cervical Spine problems. I am asking because I have had this feeling for over 2 years then the neck problem started. You will see from the images the top part of my neck is out of line so I think this step of misalignment may be giving me the feeling in my throat. Also after viewing more of your videos I think the white areas on the bone may be Bone Signalling indicating stress fractures but you’re the expert so I will await your response.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your help

Kind Regards

Ryan
In Stormy UK

razzandy
Member

August 3, 2012 at 6:47 pm

Post count: 7

#6657

Hi Dr. Corenman

I’ve decided to copy and send you the disc because I don’t want you to feel like a messing you about! Am I correct in sending it to:
F.A.O Dr. Corenman
181 West Meadow Drive
Suite
400
Vail, CO 81657

P.S. A really good way of sharing large files is by using MSN SkyDrive (The Cloud). You can create shared folders with user access. I can add the programme to a folder to show you how it works but I need your e-mail address to grant you access.
Kind Regards

Ryan
In Cloudy UK
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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Average rating:

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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