Hi Dr Corenman, I'm back. Just rode the Florida Health Rollercoaster

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genwhy1
Participant

September 7, 2014 at 2:47 am

Post count: 16

#11389

Hello again, Dr Corenman.

My new gp had me contact a new surgeon to review the notes of both the previous surgeon and the notes from the Pain Mgt/Epidural group.

He couldn’t believe what I told him, and simply shook his head when he read the surgeons notes. He basically told my mom and I that there were serious aspects of the surgeons process that were suspect.

He also noted that the Pain Mgt people did not follow normal procedure and basically were not providing services efficiently and appropriately.

He then said he was gonna talk the original surgeon’s head surgeon(boss) to discuss the younger surgeons methodology.

Apparently i have been a victim of some questionable medical practices.

I have been so goofed up by this injury I have not done my proper homework on how insurance works, but I was told that I could have my surgery out of state as long as my doctors here are in agreement ….within reason.

Would it be better for my doctor to call you regarding a potential surgical workup, or should I do so personally.

I have mris, discogram results that are relevant, notes from all my surgeons as well as two different ncs/emg tests. One very recent….(no actual damage to sciatic nerve, its just severely compressed). My gp had some other tests performed by his physical therapist who verified that besides the mechanical issue that is causing my pain and muscular dysfunction….im fit as a fiddle and a fantastic candidate for surgery…as I am in as good or better shape than most with my type of injury that requires surgical intervention.

In short, I am more interested in having my back work done by someone who understands the needs of a mountain man, not an old snowbird.

Frontier just started flying from my driveway to Denver…..

Your forum gives people so much hope.

Great to know the good guys are still out there doing amazing things.

Florida would have you think differently.

Thanks

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

September 8, 2014 at 12:07 am

Post count: 8660

#11392

Any surgical workup that I am depending upon has to personally performed by myself. Not that I don’t trust others workup but I have seen plenty of misinformation that could be used to make poor decisions. You have found this out yourself unfortunately.

What I typically plan for out of state patients is to have some time set aside by my interventionists to allow for a test (or tests) when the patient arrives. This might be selective nerve root blocks, facet blocks or discograms. Imaging time is also set aside if the delivered images are old, poor or incomplete.

There are times that I will use diagnostic tests from outside depending upon the precision used along with possible communication with the interventionist.

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.

genwhy1
Participant

September 8, 2014 at 10:07 am

Post count: 16

#11396

Doc Corenman,

I really admire your professional protocol. Im meeting with my gp, who I consider to a true advocate this week. The surgeon who was approached to review and reinvigorate my back fix strategy. He also said he had no problem with the med that the Pain Mgt people forced me to stop taking in order to have the epidurals.

I also discussed with my new Pain Mgt doc that the Zanaflex that has been prescribed to me now to deal with my neuromuscular dysfunction works much differently than the previous med…and while It doesnt touch the pain that is constant in my rump thru my low back….it does let my muscles work more efficiently. While I cant really do anything athletic above ground, I have been able to keep my metabolism up by excercising and stretching in the pool.

I hope I dont sound too pathetic. In person I think you would be able to discover several things regarding my back that the folks here in Florida are necessarily worried about….because most snowbirds arent interested in doing the Leadville 100, hiking a 14teener, or running a weekly Nastar race.

I will in discussion with my gp this Thursday. I am going to bring a copy of this conversation so he can see that I am extremely invested in getting beyond surgery and back to life.

My gp should be supportive.

Thank You

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

September 8, 2014 at 11:46 am

Post count: 8660

#11397

Believe it or not, most of my patients are not professional athletes but individuals who want to be able to have more function and less pain. Most patients do not want to surf 40 foot waves at Jaws in Maui but simply ride for 40 miles on their bicycle.

The purpose of spine surgery is to return function and eliminate pain. Most of the time, that goal can be reached with some modifications. It really depends on the pathology, the severity of the symptoms and the previous restrictions imposed by pain.

This reminds me of the old Groucho Marx joke, “Can i play the violin after surgery?”. “Of course you can”. “Well that’s great because I couldn’t play it before!”

Muscle relaxants all have some side effects and some are much better than others for certain types of disorders. I think Flexoril is a good medication and if it works for you, that is an acceptable medication for you.

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.

genwhy1
Participant

October 16, 2014 at 2:04 pm

Post count: 16

#11536

Im gonna come out for a consult in two weeks and Becky was awesome helping me with the details.

I am up to walking with strength for a bout 4 miles in a little over an hour…close to the pace I was able to maintain during my breakthrough second epidural which spanned March and April of this year.

As I gave my Becky my background, I updated her on Florida’s “pill mill” conundrum and how the desire to control and defuse that semi-epidemic, they enacted new law regarding medications that have effected those like me who thought ‘toughing it out” was the way to go.

I think my pain guy gets it and the chiro that my gp had me visit with…

My gp seems to be a bit baffled at my situation and during my last visit used the term “bias” and “nefarious” in trying to determine why my pain mgt docs and the surgeon seemed to be in some type of relation that does not put the patient first. Just sayin….its pretty bizarre.

That “grain of sand” you talk about…..I just went a bought a cowlick.

Looking forward to getting up to speed and altitude with you soon.

Thanks again.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 16, 2014 at 8:15 pm

Post count: 8660

#11537

Thanks for your confidence. Will see you in two weeks.

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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