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JBoz
Participant

May 6, 2016 at 7:01 am

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #22126

Dr. Corenamn, I apologize for not being clear. I’m not even clear on what I’m dealing with here. When you say crowding, that is the perfect word for what I’m seeing. The protrusion and compression looks resolved, as the report states, but now I have the edema, which is crowding the canal.

I uploaded a before from 9/2016 and an after from this past Friday the 29th. I tried to find the exact same location as best as I could on the mages. This is a temporary link, but I know images speak louder than words.

Hopefully you can look at these and better understand.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6C57191CB99D694E!9090&authkey=!AIY78QoeBhf15iM&ithint=folder%2c

Thank you Dr. Corenman, you have been very helpful. I hope this sheds light. My concern is they compared this to a MRI from a month after surgery, and this recent one with worsened fluid buildup, or tissue. The surgeon was called the same day. So I’m under the impression it must be important for that to occur. I do understand there is so much more to images than what I have here, these were the best to show before and after.

Thank you so much,

JBoz

JBoz
Participant

May 5, 2016 at 2:02 pm

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #22121

Dr. Corenman,

The cord is not clear where the edema is, it takes up more space than the protrusion before surgery. The moderate to severe edema, and or myelomalacia appears to have taken the place of the disc protrusion, which was resolved.

Right after surgery my symptoms were far worse than the intermittent chest pain before surgery. It became constant, and eventually over two months seemed to go back to what it was before surgery, which was still very serious, something I have been dealing with for 3.8 years now.

The symptoms in the last month have increased back to a more constant chest and back pain. This was my reason for asking for the MRI. I don’t know what to think of this edema or myelomalacia. I fear things are progressing. If this is the case, what could be happening? This pain is very serious in nature. I cannot put in words how low my quality of life is from this pain. I’m a single dad that is unable to function as a result of this chest pain, the neck pain I still have from two surgeries on the neck. Now add the new back and leg issues, it makes it even tougher than before this surgery. I guess I’m concerned about what my body is telling me.

I wish I could say it is the same, or has been getting better, but the above finding was worse than an ER MRI done a month after surgery of my thoracic spine, which spoke of severe flattening of the cord due to fluid buildup. I was told this would decrease with time, that it is a normal part of this surgery.

I can tell you that this is a very difficult way to live every day. I’m seriously worried about the situation in short. I don’t know what to do now. Still waiting for my surgeon to get back with me.

You mentioned that the edema, and or myelomalacia worried you before. I know the second one is the worst from reading. What if this is progressing in my case?

Thank you Dr. Corenman, who would have thought this thread would go on this long.

I’m truly grateful.

JBoz
Participant

May 4, 2016 at 8:27 am

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #22109

Dr. Corenman, thank you for your response.

I guess the only question now is, will this condition continue to get worse?

Thank you so much. This is very difficult to deal with, and I appreciate your knowledge. I had the chest pain before, this was the single reason for surgery, but it is unchanged, and growing stronger. The back pain is new, and this has become another issue, along with the right leg feeling hot, and the hip, all which has been looked into, with no discovery.

JBoz

JBoz
Participant

May 4, 2016 at 7:28 am

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #22099

Hello Dr. Corenman,
The surgery was a posterior surgery. When I say another incision, they made an incision at the lower thoracic spine. This was closed up and they continued at the right location higher up. A marker was placed in location a week before surgery, but was mistaken for a temperature probe, based on the surgical report. This was a laminectomy with microdiscectomy. I had severe chest pain after surgery, this was worsened, I have remained strong, but this recent MRI is disturbing. Is there a game plan for edema, and or mylomalacia? If it is fluid buildup, can be fixed, because my quality of life is not good. Is there a fix for this moderate to severe condition?

Thank you Dr. Corenman,

JBoz
Participant

May 3, 2016 at 6:34 am

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #22092

Hello Dr. Corenman,

I’m sorry I have not responded about my thoracic surgery. The surgery was done in December and the chest pain continued. If fact the situation worsened. I’m reaching out today because a follow 3T MRI of my thoracic spine shows worsened edema, and or myelomalacia. The MRI shows the epidural hygroma as being resolved. The report closes with the worsened part. I’m having new issues. My right leg is very hot and my hip has pain as well. My right hand is starting to have symptoms and the pain in both the back and the chest have become worse.

The edema and or myelomalacia has me scared. My surgeon has the information, I’m just waiting for a plan of action. I’m curious of what your take is on the term moderate to severe edema, and or myelomalacia, and if this can be fixed. It’s been almost 5 months since the surgery. There was a cut in the wrong place, but no operation done. They closed it up and performed the operation above, in the correct spot.

Any advice would be very helpful, as I have something worse than before it appears. I pray this is something that can be managed, but my symptoms are getting worse.

Sincerely,

JBoz

JBoz
Participant

November 19, 2015 at 8:54 pm

Post count: 51

in reply to: Post Surgical Pain ACDF Spect imaging #20763

Dr. Corenman, thank you.

I will let you know how it turn out soon. I am working on the relaxing. Surgery is always a bit of a stressful event, but the stress from the quality of life in my case, far exceeds the stress of this surgery. I have a bit of fear, but a lot more excitement of being relieved of such a long term health crisis. I worry about my 11 year old boy more than anything. I cannot imagine what is running through his mind. He has met with my surgeon, and he knows how successful he is, so I think that helped him out a lot. It’s tough going through three spine surgeries in 3 years. I secretly wish my surgeon would video tape the surgery. This stuff is fascinating to me.

Again, great advice, and I will be updating in the near future. That link was very helpful indeed.

JB
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Viewing 6 posts - 13 through 18 (of 50 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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JBoz

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