Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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DIAMONDCOBRA
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April 24, 2012 at 4:10 am

Post count: 5

in reply to: numbness in left leg and no reflexis in left leg #6091

yes a facet block was done before the discogram and my mri of that disc said: disc degeneration with mild anterior spondylosis is seen Posterior annular bulg and endplate ridging with possible more focal right posterolateral annular fissuring. Moderate facet degenarate change is seen. Mild formaminal narrowing bilaterally. No gross thecal sac narrowing is identified
thanks for the advice i will surly use it

DIAMONDCOBRA
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April 23, 2012 at 11:31 am

Post count: 5

in reply to: numbness in left leg and no reflexis in left leg #6083

yes a discogram was done were they shot die i think and presured up the disc to find what disc was bad i had 2 injections and had several test sone with electric needles on diffrent parts of the back and legs but was funny was on my left leg i didnt have the reaction or jumping feeling i got evrywhere else and the doctor didnt seem seem to think it was a problem with it i mean i felt it but it just like a touch not a shock the disc to me on the pickure i got looked like there was soom space on each side of the disc and the xray of it after the surgury it looked crooked like not centered I dont feel like i got better after surgury i cant do anything normal i cant ride in a car for long trip i begine to hurt in my lower back i cant even wash dishes for only a short time because if i lean forward i begine to hurt so bad that i have to put a hand down to hold my self up but i have doctors that dont want to find the problem they just ignore it like the mri i had said they couldnt see the S1-L5 disc because of the artifical disc but my doctor called and said the disc showed the disc looked fine no problems with it but i have a copy of the mri they wrote and a dvd of the mri and it doesn’t say that at all i caught them in a lie but didnt say anything im confused on how to handle that i always trusted my doctors but twice now i was lied to just so i would go away but how can i make them understand what is going on if they have never expericene it them selfs i think the disc was bad it was made to belive i would be better then before but it wasn’t sorry for the book

DIAMONDCOBRA
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April 22, 2012 at 10:52 am

Post count: 5

in reply to: numbness in left leg and no reflexis in left leg #6072

it was put in 10-29-2008 i had alot of pain from surgery but being aworker comp case the surgeon droped me in december of 2008 and the doctor on my case realeased me on may of 2009 before my recovery was complete but my impairment rating was i couldnt lift,pull or carry more then 25 pounds and had to alter sitting and standing every 30 minutes but my range of motion was never right i could touch the floor going forward but not side to side or backwards but it still clicks sometimes but pain is always there and numbness they never go away no cat scan was down but i had mri down of my lower back just 2 weeks ago and my left hip too but they were unable to look at the disc witch they didnt do much looking at the rest of the back they did a poor job because the 3 mri i had done in 2009 showed alot more wrong and was very detailed in their findings i keep copies of all my mri’s on disc for protection and the reports i always thought it didnt look staight and they put the disc in through the bottom of my stomch area that didnt go through the back i was told by one doctor before surgery that i had the back of a 70 year old man that alot of my vertabre were dehydrated no flexon/extention and lateral bending xrays have been taken at the emergency room they said they thought a nerv could be pinched or damaged and sometimes when im at the store and pushing a cart it almost seems like i walk crooked like imslightly turned to the right on the bottom have of my body sorry if that sounds wierd any more help would be appretiated i live in FORT COLLINS CO.
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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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DIAMONDCOBRA

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