Level 2 Spinal Fusion Surgery | Lumbar Surgery

“I was an avid every day runner and cyclist—participating in marathons, half marathons and annual week long bicycle tours since the 1990’s that explored southern Colorado. The bicycle tours averaged 75 to 100 miles daily. Running and cycling was a huge part of my life and made me happy. It was my ‘natural high’. When I was forced to give up running six years ago, I felt a big void in my life. Today, the fact that I am pain-free and able to do things I wasn’t able to do just a year ago, trumps that feeling any day of the week. There simply is no better feeling than living “pain-free,” says Ximena Novoa.

Ximena’s remarks resonate with the more than 65 million Americans who live with back pain day in and day out. As the second most stated reason why a person will visit an ER in any given year, chronic back pain can afflict anyone at any time.

In Ximena’s situation, years of running led to the natural degeneration of the discs in her lower back. Born in Chile, the 50 year old, full time nurse with Vail Health and mother to a 15-year old daughter, admits that her active lifestyle and “addiction to running” most likely led to her chronic lower back pain.

“When I moved to Vail in the mid-80s, I immediately began to do the things that many people love to do here. Running, biking, skiing, snowshoeing—these were a huge part of my daily routine and extra curricular activities. After I had my daughter, I slowly began to experience pain and dull aches in my lower back. As the months and years went on, the pain eventually became worse and more consistent.”

Ximena knew she had degenerative disc disease. Doctors early on confirmed the condition. It wasn’t a surprise. A past participant of the New York City Marathon, Ximena averaged two half-marathons per year and a solid 15-mile run on any given morning. The continued wear and tear over the years would secretly wear her spinal disc down to bone-on-bone, leading to pain, timely ‘flare-ups’ and ultimately, a retirement of her running shoes.

“By 2005, I was taking anti-inflammatory medicine daily for my back pain. Getting up off the bed first thing in the morning created such anxiety and pain for me. Over the years, I’ve received multiple steroid injections and for months at a time, these injections would work. Finally, on the last visit, the injection failed and it was not an effective treatment for me any longer. Looking back, my chiropractic adjustments were actually just a bandaid, temporary relief, because my condition had nothing at all to do with my back being out of place.”

Because of her longevity at the hospital, Ximena knew all of the orthopedic surgeons and their reputations. She went to see her friend, Dr. Donald Corenman and after a thorough look at her new MRIs, he concluded that surgery was the next course of action.

In fact, Ximena would need a level 2 spinal fusion surgery on her lumbar spine L4- L5 and L5-S1 vertebra. Lumbar fusion surgery is often used to treat degenerative disc disease. While multilevel fusions are not as common, they are necessary at times when more than one disc is affected. Lumbar spinal fusion involves using a bone graft to attempt to get two vertebral segments to grow together and form into one single segment. This surgery is designed to stop the motion and movement where the painful vertebral segment exists, which in turn should decrease pain released from the joint.

Ximena had her level 2 spinal fusion surgery on April 21, 2010. After spending several days in the hospital and more than six months on a strict rehabilitation program, she was cleared by Dr. Corenman to resume her activities.

“He gave me my life back,” says Ximena. “I had felt crippled, old and weak every day until I had this surgery. It was a lot of hard work on my part and it took a huge team effort from Dr. Corenman, his PA Eric Strauch,and my Physicial therapists to get me back to where I am today. I can honestly say that I am pain-free and back to my normal self”, thanks for their support and encouragement. I was able to enjoy skiing and snowshoeing on the mountain again this past winter season of 2010-2011.This spring and summer I returned to my cycling days and enjoying my 50 mile rides without feeling any back strain. I am extremely happy and grateful of my successful outcome.

Ximena gives huge credit to the entire staff at The Steadman Clinic, Vail Valley Medical Center and the Howard Head physical therapy department. She says, “They are the best in this universe. It all began with Dr. Corenman and Eric Strauch PA, because of their trust/ expertise and leadership, the entire team (many thanks to Diana, Sarah and Vangie) truly brings a patient back to an active life.”

Ximena continues to say that spine lumbar fusion surgery can seem scary. “To many, it is like an unknown black hole. If you are experiencing chronic back pain, it pays to find a reputable and skilled surgeon like Dr. Corenman who understands why chronic back pain exists and has the technology and tools to effectively treat it. I truly feel like I am a success story. Chronic back pain wears you down—both physically and mentally. You can get your life back, “ I did.”

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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.

Ximena’s Recovery From Degenerative Disc Disease

About the Author: Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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