b'Medicine & ResearchA s k t h e M S Nu rs eA s k t h e M S Nu rs eCherie Binns is a MS-certied nurse living with MS. She is the patient healthcare liaison for MS Focus and a member of the MS Lived Experience Advisory panel for the Foundation. Her quarterly column addresses the issues of living with MS.Dear MS Nurse,consist of updated images in areas of greatest I sit in a wheelchair all day and get really baddamage every two-to-three years and an annual butt sores. I already use a Roho cushion. Whatlm of the brain. Here is a link to read more else can I use?Carol L.about the McDonald criteria for an MS diagnosis: Binns: Have you seen a wound care specialist ormultiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/ms-diagnosis-a physical therapist who works with wheelchair-mcdonald-criteria. bound individuals? They may know of a betterDear MS Nurse, seat for your needs than a Roho. Also, it isI have been bedbound, then wheelchair important to shift your weight throughout thedependent, for a long time but feel a bit bet-day. A physical therapist I spoke with suggestster now and am motivated to start exercising to her patients that they set an alarm on theirto get off some of the extra weight. Every time phones every 15 minutes throughout the dayI have tried to exercise, I end up back in bed. sotheycanshiftposition.Also,thereareHow do I start and what exercises wont do dressings specically designed for pressurethis to me?Krystle G. sores where the weight cannot be fully takenBinns: Many of us make the mistake of jumping off the wound. Ask your doctor or physicalright into a program that has us working out therapist to provide a referral to your locala half-hour a day. This cannot work if we are visitingnurseserviceforevaluationandseverely deconditioned from extended bed treatment of pressure ulcers.or chair time following an illness or injury. Dear MS Nurse,A physical therapist should be your rst stop I hear people talking about MRI of thewhen starting any exercise program. They will cervical and thoracic spine, but my doctordemonstrate a few exercises to start, show you has only ever ordered a brain MRI. My brainhow to do them, ask you to do a return demo MRI has more lesions than it did 10 years agoand then send you home to try. Please only but my doctor said I am old enough to notdo up to ve to 10 minutes of exercise to start need any medications for my MS.Judy J.and maintain that level for a week or more until it becomes easy. Then, add more time or Binns: The McDonald Criteria for MS diagnosisintensity to what you are doing. You did not will now require any new diagnosis to includeget where you are in a month or even a year imaging of the spine and the brain to get anand it is going to take time to get back to overview of how the central nervous systemwhere you want to be. Baby steps are needed is affected. With MS, damage can occur anywhereuntil you are more stable or comfortable with in the CNS. Different presentations of MS maythe basics and can move on. Always be sure to occur in spinal cord lesions than with brainconsultwithyourhealthcareteamasyou lesions. After diagnosis, follow-ups shouldbegin and maintain your activity levels.msfocusmagazine.org 44'