Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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Abbeygirl
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February 2, 2015 at 8:20 am

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #12139

Hi doctor
I am still having pain after my surgery I think you called it a 360 surgery my problem being that I have left buttock pain that travels all the way down my back and I have pain in my right thigh with numbness from my knee up to my groin and I get burning and a stabbing pain it has been the same since I came out of surgery I was wondering if it is from my back or could it be another reason behind it also this left buttock pain is driving me insane my surgery was on 30/10/2014 and it was on the L5/s1 level that was my fourth back surgery and third in the last 3 and a half years I am doing physio three days a week two in the pool and one land base also trying to walk up to half hour everyday but the pain just does not seem to be getting better very frustrated thanks for this service you provide doctor

Abbeygirl
Member

November 30, 2014 at 9:48 pm

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #11809

Hi Doctor
I am starting to think I maybe should of just stayed in pain instead of having the surgery that I had 31 days ago I am in so much oain seem to be getting worse everyday and I am getting very sore in about 15cm roughly from my right buttock feels like it is stretchingand very painful dont know if that makes sense I go to see my surgion on tuesday the 2/12/14 in Australia he had me have a xray of the lumbar spine The report says There is a moderate left lateral tilt to the lumbar spine. Posterior and anterior metallic fixatures are transfixing the L5/S1 level.Please see radiographs for detail. No loosening of the scews is seen. Mild retrolisthesis of L1,L2 and L3 was noted.Degenerative spurring of the lumbar vertebral bodies was noted.COMMENT. Posterior and anterior fusion at the L5/S1 Level please see films for detail of alignment. so with the sytoms Iam feeling at the moment with right thigh numbness and burning and bruising sensation even when my clothing touches it feels uncomfortable also my top of my buttoch feels numb left leg just aches getting a bit of pain in right calf but just started but off and on sorry for being a pain dr and I know it is a bit hard to know with out seeing my films just dont know what to do can not live like this anymore going crazy with pain

Abbeygirl
Member

November 24, 2014 at 7:14 pm

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #11774

Hi Doctor was wondering if I could get some advice off you as I am very scared at the moment I am still in a lot of pain from my last surgery i do have different symtoms or should i say the pain is in different areas i have a lot of pain in my left buttock which runs into my hamstring then i have pain in th bottom of my foot and my big toes are numb also my right thigh is still numb and i get a burning feeling there also and when i touch it with my hands it feels like it is bruised badlywhen i walk if i put my left foot down flat i get a lot of pain in left buttock and the buttock area just below my back feels a bit numb but not as numb as my right thigh it has been nearly four weeks since surgery so i know it takes time to recover but the pain in left buttock really scares me at the moment sorry for being a pain doctor just do not know what to do

Abbeygirl
Member

November 13, 2014 at 6:14 pm

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #11740

Hi doctor the pain that I have in the thigh is the front of the thigh and i am only getting the burning and bruise feeling in the thigh when I mentioned it to my surgeon he did not seem to concerned he said it was just the positioned they had me in when they were operating the pain in my left bum cheek has only started in the last 6 days roughly and it is my bum cheek and I am also runs into my calf then my two big toes are numb and the bottom of my left foot feels like I am getting electric shock going through it he done a decompression on that level so do you think it could still be settling down from surgery sorry for being a pain doctor but I am just really worried with these symptoms that I am having I could not go through a operation like that again feel like I am not going to get over it never felt pain like that before so my question is have you seen many operations similar to the one I had and If so was it successful

Abbeygirl
Member

November 11, 2014 at 11:06 pm

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #11720

Hi doctor thanks again for this service I have had surgery on my back as I had a non Union fusion at the L5/S1 so I had my surgery on the 30/10/14 so about two weeks roughly the surgery was about 9 hours my surgeon first cut me from behind and took the screws out and also done some work on a compressed nerves and cut some bone out then they turned me over made a incision in my stomach and took the bolts out and cleaned it up and put bigger and thicker bolts and also took some graft off my pelvis then stitched me up then turned me over again then undid the sticking and from what I can understand put a plate in and tighten up the screws then ditch me up it was a very painful experience something I could not go through again just a couple of questions which might seem a bit silly being that the op was not that long a go but my right thigh is very numb and it feels like it is on fire and when I feel it with my hand it feels like it is bruised and the bruised feeling changes place in different areas every time I touch it also this symptom has only started in the last four to five days but seems to be getting worse that being my left bum check is very sore just to touch when I am sitting or even when I try to walk and put my left foot flat on the ground I get a shooting pain in the bum left side my left big toe is numb also got some pain in left calf and on the bottom of left foot get a electric shock numb kind of feeling but the pain in the left bum is really sore sorry doctor for being s pain but this being my fourth back surgery and I am really worried because I can not take much more of this pain just not coping it has been a very long road so I hope it is just everything taking Time to settle down thanks again doctor

Abbeygirl
Member

June 1, 2014 at 8:50 am

Post count: 40

in reply to: L5/S1 FUSION NON UNION #10922

Hi Doctor
Sorry this will be the rest of the report.
If this is the case I would recommend that we redo his fusion via an anterior approach as he has had a number of operations through the back of his spine and redoing the fusion from a posterior direction would be fraught with difficulties.
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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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Abbeygirl

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