Page 2 » Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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texasspondy
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September 26, 2012 at 2:15 am

Post count: 25

in reply to: pars defect – stress fractures #7015

Sheryltc, I don’t speak for Dr. Corenman, and I am not doctor, but I did sleep at a Holiday inn last night, just kidding. I have spondylolysis, aka pars deffect at the L5-S1 level, and done a ton of research as well as educate myself from Dr. Corenman’s site.

What I have gathered so far is a pars fracture is a mechanical defect, like any bone that breaks if braced properly in a timely manner, you might be able to avoid further complications, hence why your doctor put your son in a brace. But trying to keep the bone from moving while we live are daily lives without hardware, can at best heal up with some scar tissue/bone formation, not perfect.

I’m sure Dr. Corenman will reply to you soon enough but just wanted to tell you, I know your son’s pain. You are encouraged to seek specialtists of the spine, being a an orthopedic doctor that has additional training (residencey I believe) in spine care, which is what I believe Dr. Corenman is, an Orthopedic Spine Specialtist. You could also seek a Neurosurgeon, that specializes in the spine. Sounds like you have seen two Orthopedic Spine Specialtists, did their information compare with each other? Hope you find some relief for your son..

texasspondy
Member

September 17, 2012 at 1:34 am

Post count: 25

in reply to: Appointment Information #6964

Good Day to you Dr. Corenman,

Quick question for you sir. The best way to make an appointment to come in and see you is by which method? I called your local Vail office ( 970 phone #) friday morning and it was a recording for neckandback.com

So I saw the form on this website, under contact us, and I went ahead and filled it out with some information but it says if you are not a existing patient, this is not the preferred method for contact and may not receive a response. I’m just not 100% clear on a new patient making an appointment to see you.

Appreciate your time

texasspondy
Member

July 11, 2012 at 10:19 pm

Post count: 25

in reply to: Bone Stimulator Fracture #6515

Thanks for correcting me Dr. Corenman, I surely thought it was Mr. Manning. I remember watching a game a couple years ago, player got hit bad, and the next morning on my Yahoo page it said that this particular player had a pars fracture. I tried to follow it for a little while to see his treatment, and outcome. I just remember he had a fusion done, for a pars fracture, they didn’t do the bone stimulator or back brace. Anyway, appologies to the original poster, thought I had some constructive information for him.

texasspondy
Member

July 11, 2012 at 6:58 am

Post count: 25

in reply to: Bone Stimulator Fracture #6509

I know Dr. Corenman has a practice, and professionalism to uphold, so you can’t get what players have had this surgery and are still playing, that kind of violates the privacey act that we all have to sign anytime we go to a doctor.
With that said, I’m not a doctor, and what you are inquiring about can be found through google. For example, ever heard of Peton Manning? He had a real good hit a few years back and after a couple surgerys, he ended up having a level cervical fusion for a pars fracture. Guess what, he’s playing this year for Denver Bronco’s. My guess is you will not see the Peyton Manning of yesteryear, due to this surgery. The fact that he is playing ought to give you some hope to play if that’s what you are looking to do but, to put your body, and or spine at such a risk, seems not a wise thing to do, in my uneducated opinion on the matter. I researched it becuase I have a pars fracture, and basically it told me that I could have a fusion, and my life wouldn’t necessarily be over but a little restriction for future activity.

I hope I havent offended Dr. Corenman on this reply, I only posted what I had found on google about such a injury and a sports figure that is back to playing, again. If that is the case feel free to remove my post.

cotymorris post=2211 wrote: I understand, What would it take to get back to running and things without getting back into pain? Also any football players?
Thanks so much, you truly have been the biggest help.

texasspondy
Member

June 29, 2012 at 7:30 pm

Post count: 25

in reply to: Post Op 2 days-Minimally Invasive Lumbar Microdiscectomy L5/S1 #6452

Was just curious, are you one of Dr. Corenman’s patients, or did you have this procedure done by another surgeon. I am still researching and truthfully you want to get to know anything and everything about success and failures of surgeons. I’m glad to hear your back surgery was a success. Your procedure sounds much less complicated than a fusion, but heck any sucessful back surgery is good news to hear too.

cdlasnier post=2154 wrote: Hi Everyone,

History: I’ve had moderate to severe sciatica pain going on for around 5 months in right buttocks, right leg down to foot which made it difficult to stand, walk, sit or generally get in any comfortable position.
Over these past few months tried chiropractor, physical therapy, and lastly lots of narcotics. Narcotics minimized the pain but I was unable to function at work. Docs requested an MRI showing a severely herniated disc at L5/S1. Tried to be more active to see if that helped but anything active made it worse, even just standing up straight.
Made the decision approximately a month ago to go for the surgery.
Now I am day 2 post op: Almost zero pain, able to walk and stand up straight, only minimal pain at the incision site and muscle tightness but so far so good and haven’t taken any pain meds, not even an ibuprofen on day two since I want to listen to my body on what NOT to do. Taking it easy with short walks today, moving slowly, no bending twisting, or lifting anything heavy for the next three months. I’d post a link to my post operation photo but not sure how to create a link to it? Hope this relief continues! Will post in a couple more weeks. Took 3 1/2 weeks off from work to recover, walk a lot and no driving.

texasspondy
Member

May 14, 2012 at 7:48 am

Post count: 25

in reply to: TLIF? #6197

dustingfab post=1901 wrote: Thanks for the clear explanation Dr. Corenman. So a fusion regardless of location of the spine replaces pain for stiffness. And with stiffness, a person would need to change their lifestyle and level activity.

I can totally see that. I have adopted a flat back program as Dr. Corenman had mentioned to me a few months back. Although I do some hip flexor and floor hamstring stretching, my area around the L5 and probably l4 are stiffer. Basically I have not bent over really, I’ve just been kneeling, squating down if I have to bend over. I can feel if I try to tuck my pelvis upward, that it’s stiff in the l4/l5 area. Stiffness for a trade off of pain, probably not such a bad thing.
My biggest issue is if I have to bend over, or lift something heavy, my low back gets knotted up with muscle spasms, cause it’s trying to hold everything together, that’s the part I am disgusted with.
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Viewing 6 posts - 7 through 12 (of 23 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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texasspondy

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