Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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spy147
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September 17, 2019 at 4:14 pm

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #31117

I told him that I didn’t feel relief not for a minute after surgery compared to pre surgery and I also asked him how quickly does scar tissue form? Five minutes after surgery? Because when I woke up I and right up until now I’m exactly the same. He then started talking about blood that he thought would compress the nerve and that’s when I left.

spy147
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September 17, 2019 at 4:10 pm

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #31116

So I met with my surgeon today and as opposed to five other doctors who have seen the MRI and all of them said disc fragment he insists it’s scar tissue and that twi months after surgery isn’t a sufficient amount of time for an MRI to show if it’s scar tissue or disc fragment. So in a week it will be three months from surgery and he told me to get another MRI? And for what? To prove him wrong? What’s your take on this?

spy147
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September 12, 2019 at 4:39 pm

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #31096

I have started having additional lower pain on the left side with mild leg symptoms just about like the right leg symptoms. Is it possible (from what you saw from the MRI) that I could have disc trouble on both sides? Is what you saw unstable down there?

spy147
Participant

September 8, 2019 at 5:23 am

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #31057

Fact of the matter is that he didn’t get the job done and proceeded to bullshit me. I will confront him with the hard facts just to shake him that I’m not going to leave him at that. I want to hear what he suggests from now on (maybe a steroid pack for the inflammation) and if a revision surgery is what’s down the road for me I will definately seek a different surgeon.
Would you suggest a steroid pack at this moment? I will try and fight this till December and if all else fails I might be going under the knife again.
Thank you.

spy147
Participant

September 7, 2019 at 12:18 pm

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #31048

I have sent the MRI results at the mail of your secretary as you pointed out. I have already checked on it and three neurosurgeons (not the one who operated, I have lost confidence in him) have told me that it shows a disc fragment impinging the nerve root which is constantly inflamed. Two of them said reherniation but the third one (a good friend of mine who is a renowned hand and fingers surgeon who works at the same hospital with the surgeon who operated) told me that he found out that the surgeon purposedly left the disc fragment inside and then proceeded to close me after three and a half hours of surgery beacause he was afraid that he would damage the nerve. My question therefore is, what kind of surgeon leaves a job half done and then proceeds to inform his patient that everything went ok, that the nerve takes time to heal, be patient etc etc. I only found out myself when I had the MRI with contrast not per his instructions. Basically he sent me on my merry way with a disc fragment still in there causing problems each and every day telling me to be patient. Needless to say, I’ve been having psychological issues since the day of the surgery due to the fact that nothing was resolved. The leg symptoms I had pre surgery are still there and my back aches all the time. To top it off because of the constant lower back pain I’ve developed pain all the way up to my neck. I’m a train wreck both bodily and psychologically and I have no idea how to proceed from here. I do a lot of walking and physiotherapy, taking 150mg of Lyrica each day and I’m really fighting this but is there light at the end of the tunnel or am I fighting a losing battle? Of course I know that I should go to him with the MRI and demand explanations but I’m afraid he’ll sugarcoat it and offer a reoperation (which of course he’ll get paid for again by my insurance company).
Sorry for the long message but I’m really frustrated. I thought that I’d be over and done with this by now since a microdiscectomy is considered one of the easiest surgeries for a neurosurgeon who is supposed to be one of the best at what he does.
Thank you in advance Dr Corenman

spy147
Participant

August 20, 2019 at 6:00 pm

Post count: 8

in reply to: Microdiscectomy recovery? #30930

Thank you for the response! I had X rays right before the one month appointment post op with my surgeon which were good as he pointed out. I will have an MRI in the following days to see if all is well with the nerve root but I suspect some form of pressure albeit not constant as I have days with minimal pain which unfortunately are followed by days with tightness in the calf and cramps. As if something moves involuntarily and changes the intensity of the symptoms either for the better, either for the worse. Walking a lot seems to make things better but I can’t walk all day. Would you think (if the nerve root is still somewhat compressed) an ESI would be helpful. I had one last year (a year preop) and it helped a lot for several months. Thank you!
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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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spy147

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