Page 2 » Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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foxylady
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May 29, 2023 at 3:40 pm

Post count: 125

in reply to: MRI Scan results #35652

Donald Corenman, MD, DC wrote:

“C5-C6 Bilateral foraminal Stenosis, moderate on left and severe on right with compression of the exciting right C6 nerve root.
C6-C7 – …with severe bilateral foraminal stenosis resulting in compression of the exciting C7 nerve roots”.

If you have radicular symptoms in the C6 or C7 roots and your report states “Severe foraminal stenosis”, that is an indication for surgical treatment.

Dr. Corenman

Thank you Sir.
Well, when this scan was done the reason was my right arm had stopped working, I had tilted my head to the left and my neck cracked on the right, then right arm stopped working. so they said at A&E it is your spine, sent me for urgent mri and then sent me to Neurosurgeons who said: See how you get on. They just left it. I did get use of my arm back after afew weeks but I still have myelopathy signs around thumbs, on top of my hands above thumbs you can see the sinking where muscle used to be, and thumb muscles on the palm side of my hands have wasted alittle; oh and sometimes I drop things. I get the sweating from neck too. I have a tendon problem on left hand, tendon has swollen and I am going for an injection in that next month. If I try to do anything like cleaning the house, carrying shopping my shoulders hurt and go rock hard, tight. But I don’t know if that is coming from spine or shoulder impingement that I have in both shoulders. I have alot of pain in Rotator cuffs.

foxylady
Participant

May 3, 2023 at 3:50 pm

Post count: 125

in reply to: Ventral Cord Indentation #35633

Yes, most likely, thank you

foxylady
Participant

April 24, 2023 at 3:41 pm

Post count: 125

in reply to: Ventral Cord Indentation #35623

Thank you. I have had a guided injection in the shoulder in December 2022 and it made me feel better but only for 3 weeks, they said it should help for 3 months. When they did the injection in shoulder I got some feeling back in my feet temporarily, and no dr can explain why. I also have not had any of those strange falls since they injected the shoulder and the Dr today just doesn’t seem to think it’s connected but I do.

The Neurosurgeons refuse to do anything about my nerve compression in my neck. Last year when my right arm stopped working they just said see if it gets better on it’s own. It did, but I still have some days when my grip goes weak and I drop things.

foxylady
Participant

April 24, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Post count: 125

in reply to: Ventral Cord Indentation #35616

Ok, thank you.
Would any of the nerve compression mentioned above cause problems into the shoulder? I have shoulder impingement too, there is a bone spur rubbing on a muscle, now today the Dr said he will not operate to remove the bone spur as he says alot of my symptoms are coming from the cervical spine. If I try to do anything using my arms I get a bright red cheek on right side, and go all flushed, feel dizzy, so I thought something was trapping some blood flow maybe? or pressing on nerve? The dr today in one breath he’s saying oh it’s your neck, then in the next breath he’s saying you may have an inflammatory illness causing the inflammation in shoulder. I feel he’s fobbing me off so he doesn’t have to do anything. What do you think please?

foxylady
Participant

April 22, 2023 at 1:46 am

Post count: 125

in reply to: Severe Intervertebral Foraminal – Neck #35610

Oh, strange. I wonder why. Ok Sir thank you.

foxylady
Participant

April 21, 2023 at 1:35 am

Post count: 125

in reply to: Severe Intervertebral Foraminal – Neck #35604

My MRA showed small Vertebral Artery Loop Formation on left near origin from the left Subclavian artery.
and partially confluent bilateral cerebral subcortical and periventricular white matter T2 hyperintensities, probably secondary to small vessel disease (Fazekas 2)

What does that mean please?
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Viewing 6 posts - 7 through 12 (of 86 total)

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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Average rating:

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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foxylady

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