What are the main concerns of the family after a spinal cord injury? - Kristine Cichowski, MS

I think that the immediate concern is, "Can I do this?"—"How can I do this?"—"What do I need to know?" It's very overwhelming to start, start the process of, "Wow, this a new land for me, it's very foreign." And understanding where they find the information, and feeling that they have to really know every piece of it. I do find with families too that they're wanting to grab as much information as they can, so they can feel that they're doing their part in being responsible. And, part of that is being able to have a balance to that, because you're not going to know every piece in the beginning. And the one piece of spinal cord, living with a spinal cord injury as with any long-term disability, is that it's an on-going journey. And you are going to be learning along the way, and you'll have new pieces of information that you are going to have to acquire new knowledge of.