By, Amy Stein, DPT (Founder and owner of Beyond Basics Physical Therapy; President of the International Pelvic Pain Society; Author of award-winning book: Heal Pelvic
Amy was presenting on the benefits of physical therapy in individuals with Multiple Sclerosis(MS) . In addition to our educational outreach, we are collecting money for NYC’s TISCH ‘s MS research arm through the New York City Marathon. Please Click here to donate.
I had an amazing, and thank goodness a positive spin during and after my talk at the TISCH Multiple Sclerosis Patient Summit on Sunday. Thank you to Dr. Sadiq, Dr. Kanter, Dr. Williams and Pamela Levin for the invitation to share my expertise. I was so honored and felt blessed to be asked to speak at this conference. There were 1,200 people registered…..no pressure! And when I walked in prior to my talk, I saw the below photos on three HUGE screens! Again, no pressure. I practiced my breathing and my confidence building. Jessica Babich, DPT met me there to set up our table. She was a huge help, considering they wanted me to mic up right away.
I had practiced the material quite a bit so felt confident that it would go well…..and it did! I ran through everything in the 20 minutes I had and then had tons of questions after, of which I could only answer 4 in the time allotted.
A couple questions:
1. Does pelvic PT still work/can it be beneficial while a person is getting botox into the bladder?
Most definitely if the pelvic floor muscles are involved.
2. Does bladder frequency change when you have MS?
It shouldn’t change too much. If it does, as pelvic physical therapists, we teach you strategies to manage this.
3. How often should you go to the bathroom at night if you have MS?
I am not sure there are any studies on this, but I would say no more than 2 times. We give our patients strategies to help with nighttime frequency as well.
After the Q and A, I felt like I was on cloud nine, because I gave a lot of great info in a short period of time….I sat down, and picked up my phone to take photos and noticed 2 missed calls and multiple texts from my sitter and a friend (my husband was away on a motorcycle trip). I thought….uh oh, because it had only been 30 minutes. Sure enough, the call that all mothers expect at some point, but hope it never happens….My son, Zachary had fallen off the jungle gym and it looked like he needed stitches. Thank goodness for babysitters and good friends! I explained the situation to a few colleagues from TISCH and praised Jessica at her awesomeness for taking charge, and I left immediately. My boy was a champ, and didn’t cry, even when he got the 8 stitches in his head….as I almost passed out!
In the end, amazing meeting and opportunity, and a strong and brave boy. What could a working mom ask for! I count my blessings every day!
Jessica Babich and Amy Stein
These are the big screens I was talking about!
My Kids, Zachary and