Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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September 5, 2023 at 3:19 pm

Post count: 10

in reply to: A doosey: SI joint or Lumbar pain? #35804

Quick update.
An MRI revealed it’s a recurrent disc herniation at L4/L5 at 9mm.
The previous herniation pre microdiscectomy, was 5mm.
Not much disc material left to work with.
Looks like it’s gonna be a fusion.
I’m not thrilled about it and the recovery is scary looking.
But it’s better to get these things done while I’m still young, imo.

Typical
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July 21, 2023 at 1:06 pm

Post count: 10

in reply to: A doosey: SI joint or Lumbar pain? #35765

You assumed correctly!

I WAS just checked out a few days ago by my orthopaedic surgeon and he believes the same.

No weakness in buttocks or ankle.

Noticed that the uneffected leg would set off nerve pain in The effected side!
Odd.

Also, I barely caught it, but he was orally dictating his notes to an assistant and during the straight leg raise tests, he noted them as “C-SLR”.
Not sure what that could mean.

I mentioned wanting to see a Chiro and he shot me a look that basically said “don’t do it.”
So that’s that, lol.

I’m going to get another MRI and we’ll take it from there.

Anyways, looks like you’re dead on the money, as usual.

Typical
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July 17, 2023 at 12:02 pm

Post count: 10

in reply to: A doosey: SI joint or Lumbar pain? #35759

Also, I do remember a physical therapist ,recently (this year), telling me my effected leg was slightly shorter than my other leg.

I understand this can cause these types of problems.

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January 25, 2020 at 4:34 pm

Post count: 10

in reply to: Worsening symptoms 6 weeks post lumbar microdiscectomy. #31983

Also, I’ve never had symptoms in my right leg/glute preop or up until week 5 post op.
Now, its a thing.

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January 25, 2020 at 4:04 pm

Post count: 10

in reply to: Worsening symptoms 6 weeks post lumbar microdiscectomy. #31982

The MRI findings are pre surgery, yes.
The surgeon didn’t really go ober the operation much with me. He just approached me in the recovery area and told.me there was a tremendous amount of pressure on the nerbe and I should have been in there sooner.
It leads me to believe it was a unilateral procedure.

How would you compare your current symptoms to your preop symptoms in location, intensity, activity restrictions. How much change has occurred and how have your symptoms evolved after surgery?

Worse. Much more pronounced post surgery.
preop, I barely ever felt discomfort in my feet, it was mostly in the glute and leg.
Intensity, maybe a 6/10. I could stand for maybe about 10 minutes before starting to “dance around” on one leg. Its pretty much the same, now.

How the symptoms evolved over time:
The first 2 weeks were fine, but I did feel tingling in my left foot toes that was not present preop. Right after the first 14 days, the morning of my follow up appt with my surgeon actually, I began to feel mild familiar “soreness” radiating down the left leg.
I informed my surgeon, we did a straight leg test and he was pleased. he told me to take Aleve once every 12 hours and double the dosage
week 3: Took double dosage NSAIDS for 1 week and aside from making my blood incredibly thin, it did nothing to aleviate the symptoms. I felt tingling in the left side of my body and face and my personal doctor was very alarmed by this. He instructed me to cease the double dosaging.
week 4: Feeling better! More stable. Not wearing back brace so mUch, doing some walking around the house.
week 5: woke up late at night, was very thirsty so I grabbed a bottle of water out of the refridgerator, bent low to do it and felt a bit of a “pop” in the lower back but that was nothing really out of the ordinary and wasn’t painful. Immediately went back to sleep.
Woke up with symptoms. 7/10, I can walk around, I can live life but I can feel it, too. Its been like that for a week.

The only real improvement is preop, getting out of bed, it felt like the bottom side of my left foot was burning or tearing, as I got out of bed. That is not the case, now. Also my posture is better, in the morning I would walk sort of hunched over and I dont have to do that, now.

Typical
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January 25, 2020 at 2:24 am

Post count: 10

in reply to: Worsening symptoms 6 weeks post lumbar microdiscectomy. #31975

Also a “toothache” type of dull throbbing pain in the spine in what feels like the area just above the belly button.
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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 7 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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