Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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backtolife
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January 25, 2014 at 11:32 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Thoracic Disc Herniation Questions #10235

What was involved in your pre-op work up, meaning did you have to be seen by and cleared by different specialists such as a pulmonologist?

backtolife
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January 25, 2014 at 11:26 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Thoracic Disc Herniation Questions #10234

I have thoracic spinal stenosis, T-10 & T-11 degenerated, both of which abut the cord with spurs. Since last flare up, left leg remains weak, both legs cramp, underside of left foot numb, right goes numb, decreased or no sensation on large part of left leg & yes, the chest banding or radiating is horrible. Am in therapy, again, would prefer to proceed with surgery & get the function and feeling of my legs back.

backtolife
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October 20, 2013 at 7:21 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Thoracic Disc Herniation Questions #9637

Dr. Corenman –
I had ACDF 12/16/2012 with ultimately great results. I have questions related to my thoracic spine. I injured my cervical at the same time that I injured my thoracic. Thoracic problem now far more symptomatic. Recently diagnosed w/ thoracic spinal stenosis.
-Burning mid back below bra line, has radiated around to front of chest number of times, hard to deep breathe
-Left leg is weak, pins & needles under my foot, more prominently under 4 left most toes & big toe covering the whole underfoot. Whole leg is weak but is more difficult to lift leg up (like big muscle doesn’t want to work like it should), very slow to lift & it increases burning in spine.
-Standing and walking make mid-back burning greater, both legs feel crampy and weak.
-Do have limp, weight when walking is more on inside of my left leg & “ball area” behind left big toe (because pins & needles worse when standing & big left leg muscle weak).
-My ortho surgeon w/ spine fellowship does thoracic. He wants me to go back to neurologist. Would EMG/NCS show abnormalities related to thoracic spinal stenosis? Legs have gone out # of times over last 2 years. This is first time my left leg remains weak & walking/sitting & other activities increase symptoms.
Many thanks for all u do.

backtolife
Participant

February 14, 2013 at 6:45 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Post ACDF did great, played volleyball, now not great. #8003

Dr. Corenman-
Thank you again for your time and response. I look forward to volleyball in future. I will wait for volleyball, ask my surgeon about when I can do activities such as that and stick to my walking until then. The numbness/tingling remains constant and is my whole left pinky down the outer side of left hand (very prominent), the outer palm side of the left hand (very prominent) and the whole digit of my left ring finger (the part with the fingertip very prominent) and a little less prominent in the middle and bottom parts of my ring finger (gauging this by rubbing the areas). I will call his office tomorrow as there has been no improvement in my symptoms and I did not have any of this until my volleyball play. I hope and pray I did not do anything to harm my outcome or his wonderful work. My life had been so negatively impacted before surgery for so long, I was doing well & thought I would try my hand at something I once did but could not for so long. Thank you again for your time and information. I greatly appreciate all insight and information.

backtolife
Participant

February 14, 2013 at 12:43 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Post ACDF did great, played volleyball, now not great. #8001

Dr. Corenman-
Thank you kindly for your response to my inquiry. I will not play any volleyball again and I am going to call his office. My surgeon, his staff, everyone was wonderful and I am almost afraid to call and ask for an appointment in light of it being my own stupidity that may have caused a problem but my pinky on my left (whole pinky) extending all the way down the outer aspect of my left hand and my left ring finger (more prominent in top of finger) remain numb/tingly. No headache, still pressure. In thinking about things, my ACDF was necessitated by a retrolisthesed C5-C6 with severe chronic endplate trauma and bulging C4-C5 with kyphotic angulation. I had had 2 EMG’s/NCS’s thru diagnosis process & the impression of the most recent one (6/18/12) showed “there is electrophysiologic evidence of left median mononeuropathy at the wrist consistent carpal tunnel syndrome. This finding is mild. My surgeon’s practice is huge (he is an ortho surgeone w/ spinal fellowship) & they do have board certified hand specialist. Could it be that left median nerve? I will tell him everything. I feel foolish & embarassed that I felt so well & may have hurt my own recovery. Thank you immensely.

backtolife
Participant

June 1, 2012 at 3:50 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Cervical Lateral Flexion Extension X-ray #6298

Thank you for your earlier response to my post. Went to neurologist appt. and an EMG and NCS have been ordered for left arm. My questions are 1) since my right arm is unaffected, should I inquire about doing them on right arm and left arm to have a comparison? and 2) Will the fact that I have had steroid injections affect the results of the study or “mask” any nerve issue or possible nerve damage? I had an EMG/NCS in 2011 that showed some items that were prolonged under FINDINGS and gave an IMPRESSION of “there is a mild predominately sensory median mononeuropathy at the wrist consistent with a predominately sensory carpal tunnel syndrome.” I personally did not feel carpal tunnel was a possibility as I know how all of this started and I did not have any of the signs and symptoms associated with carpal tunnel tunnel (from reading info. from reputable medical sites on internet) and I still do not. The EMG/NCS done in 2011 was not ordered by the neurosurgeon I am under the care of, a Physicians Assistant in the office where I was seen at ordered it at my request.

Thank you for any comments that you can offer.
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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 8 total)

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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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backtolife

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