Spinal cord injury changes the body in ways that even people who are affected by it take years to understand its effects. Each and every person with spinal cord injury has to go through those uncertain times with fear and anxiety. I am no exception. It took me many years learn how a neurogenic bladder will cause urinary tract infection that if left untreated will lead to renal failure. I learnt that the hard way.

I was also ignorant of how a poor-fitting wheelchair will cause postural problems, why I should diligently go for scheduled medical check-ups and that people with spinal cod injury are prone to osteopenia that may eventually lead to osteoporosis. Those were the days when Internet was still a foreign word to many and resources in print for spinal cord injury were scarce and hard to come by.

Things have changed over the years. Information on complications, treatment and prevention for spinal cord injury are easily available through search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Many of such sites provide cold hard facts that may be difficult to comprehend with its extensive use of medical terms. Personally, I prefer to get my information from forums where people with similar conditions share their experiences and provide useful advice.

One site that I frequent for down-to-earth information is the CareCure Community. It has an extensive archive of all topics related to spinal cord injury where members with similar conditions share and discuss issues affecting them. What makes this forum unique is the sense of camaraderie by members from all over the world and the determination to part with whatever knowledge they have to people who need it.