Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

Participant

October 25, 2016 at 1:12 pm

Post count: 5

#23268

Dr. Corenman
I did not realize that you had answered me. Thank you so much for your answer which has just confused me more. I have been waiting for the “neuromuscular science team” to reply which was supposed to be early last week and as usual nobody has got back to me yet. They are asking me questions about how long I have been on statin drugs if that could be causing my muscle pain and as I mentioned to you they said my muscles are still very strong even though I feel very weak and fatigued all of the time!!!
I am beginning to feel that there is no “light at the end of the tunnel for me” and I just don’t understand why not? So you are actually saying that this Nerve conduction study and EMG test might tell me what is going on in my muscles but it is not going to help for my neck pain. I have been thinking all along that it was connected maybe?

The pain seems to come from my neck and run down into my shoulders (particularly my right one more than my left) which is where I have the small tear that I mentioned in my last note and goes down my arm, my elbow, into my wrist and into my hand. My hand in fact both my hands have been going numb off and on for years, my ring and my pinky fingers. My shoulders have ached badly for years (all of the muscles ache badly, do my shoulders hurt worse than my neck…I don’t think anything hurts worse than the chronic pain in my neck!!!
I have had all of those shots that you suggested years ago, nerve ablations, you name it I have had it and didn’t get much relief at the time!! I never did have a discogram, I will do anything to get a proper diagnosis and yes you are correct I don’t know if the last few neurosurgeons have given me the correct diagnosis either if you say that the D-trax is not going to work. I did go to an Orthopedic surgeon who was going to do the surgery but the problem for years is nobody seems to be 100% sure if I am actually fused at C6-7 or not. I seem to be passed around from one doctor to another. He said he thought I was fused and the next time I came back to him he didn’t even seem to know why I was there. I told him he sent me for another scan and then when he went to study the new scan he came out of his office and said “oh you are not fused”, I didn’t feel very confident even though he is very well known in the state that I live which is Michigan. He gave me the paperwork on a fusion to be done this time going in through the back (his paperwork says …indication for a surgical intervention in the form of a posterior cervical decompression and fusion to treat her nonunion of fusion. He did tell me to go to an orthopedic surgeon for my shoulder pain!!!! I just remembered that!!!! He is an orthopedic doctor!!! (I give up), this has been going on for so long, things come up all of the time, no wonder I am confused!!!
I took that new scan (because it just seemed so “matter of fact” that one minute he remembers the next minute, oh yes you are not fused” to another well known “neurosurgeon” who wasn’t exactly positive either and he is the one who wanted me to get the neurosurgeon who is the one who wanted to do the D-trax surgery and we know that that got all screwed up. He made me sign a paper that said this would be the first D-trax surgery that he would be doing!!!
The pain management specialist that did the EMG test didn’t seem to know if the myotonic discharges were related to my neck but says it is related to my shoulder because there were myotonic discharges in my shoulders and most doctors even my GP seem to think it is myotonic dystrophy or myotonia congenita. Either way it is certainly not the life I want to live with the neck pain being maybe a separate problem!!!
I am so confused and am sick of being in so much pain for 16 years. I am 65 years old now and have such a wonderful life and beautiful children and grandchildren and an amazing husband and feel like I am facing a disability of everything. I am waiting for the specialist to call me back!! I have an appointment for another EMG of my arms, legs and back again because the other test was done at an outside institute. It is in a few weeks!!I will certainly try an orthopedic surgeon or orthopedic doctor as you suggested and thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to answer me. She is saying maybe she doesn’t want me to have that done now because in the year 2001 they saw myotonic discharges in my left arm and at that time they called it myotonia congenita.

Again Dr. Corenman thank you so much for reading this and for answering me. I do appreciate your advice and I will go back to another Orthopedic doctor as you suggested and hopefully some day I will get some answers as to what is going on. My chiropractors also have taken some good x-rays of my neck that they say I am not fused and I keep on going to get adjustments weekly but the pain never goes away.
Take care, thank you Lyn Hurrelbrinck

Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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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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