What does a patient with a spinal cord injury need to learn first? - Kristine Cichowski, MS

It's very important that you get very clear and understandable medical information. I mean, you really need to understand what a spinal cord injury is, what it impacts in your body so that you can take care of your body. That's where I think it's helpful to see yourself as a student—understanding about skin, and your respiratory system, and your bowel and your bladder. All the things you wish you really didn't have to know about, but you need to take some time to really understand it, because if you can get that under your belt and identify what needs to be done for your health, then the avenue of getting on with your life is going to be even broader. If you don't get that piece together, you're going to come against little hurdles every now and then. So that medical stuff, I think, is really very important, particularly in the beginning phases.