Fusion surgery scheduled starting July 30 and 31 on hold

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chebard
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July 15, 2014 at 2:11 am

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#11183

Dr Corenman-
This is an update.
After our discussion last Monday regarding the concerns of your RN, Diane, and Kristen, I have written thru the website and called to better understand how my behavior made such a bad impression.

I am deeply hoping I can rehabilitate their impression of me and give them assurance that I hold the entire team at Steadman in very high esteem and would guarantee that I would be their ideal patient. It means so much to me.

I did receive a very polite voice mail from Diane and Kristin which offered to talk with me directly regarding what had occurred from their perspective. I have not been able sucessful making connection back to them by phone. I have called twice since they left their message.

Frankly, i don’t want to appear to be an even bigger pest by disturbing them any further!

It’s just that this means so much to me, and I have made so many staffing and travel plans to accommodate the schedule. Really, my heart is broken. Our agreement was the first real hope i had found in the past year and it was a huge relief to me.

In fact, my physician in Santa fe, Dr Howard Schwartz, my physical therapist, Fred McDaniel, who is a former patient of yours, my Swiss wife, Astrid, who was present at all interactions between us, …..even my buddhist roshi have tried to contact you to offer independent assurance of both my commitment to you and to the team. They want to express what they believe is my very urgent need for your help and my ability and desire to be an ideal patient.

Also, just so you know,, it seems there is a technical issue with your website email system. All parties who have attempted to contact you thru the website contact page have had difficulty with the BOT security ( those pesky numbers that change) at the bottom of the email page. It simply rejects the codes submitted intermittently. I share this out of respect, only as a FYI.

Please understand that a big reason i sent this thru the forum was because i had been contacted by others who could not navigate the contact page on your website. I am writing here just to make sure that their correspondence did make it to their intended sources.

Fred McDaniel was the therapist who originally informed me that you, specifically, were the only surgeon he would reccomend to work on my delicate neck problems. As soon as i got to your facility, I became your biggest fan. For over a year, I had suffered not only excruciating pain but a lack of a thorough evaluation of all the various possible problems and solutions there were. It was your patient and thorough review that gave me my fIrst hope in over a year.

This injury has had a huge effect on the quality of my work, and my wife- who was with me at all times in Vail and at Steadman– believes that a big part of your staff’s concern was due to a specific business transaction that–unfortunately–was needing immediate assistance from me directly while i was in your waiting area and near Diane and Kristin- That will never happen again!

Dr Corenman, I am really trying to do anything within my power to make an impactful amends to Diane and Kristin. I thought they were both totally clear, patient, detail oriented and responsive when I was at your facilities. I really am just so sorry–even though i do not know specifically what I did which frightened them. I am ashamed to have to write to all of you this way, and, for sure, I will learn how my “unconscious” behavior–pain or no– effects others.

PLEASE NOTE: I am prepared to drive to Vail immediately, if a face to face might help relieve the tension and give you further assurance.

I am asking you: please find it in your heart to work this out with me. It has been a very difficult year and I am certain that your help can make help me on the road to recovery. I am willing to make whatever accommodations you would need to get us back on track.

Sincerely,

Chris Hebard
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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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