Perl Server Side CGI Scripting Forum

I am a newbie and I cannot figure out this problem hopefully someone will be able to assist.

I have:
$query = "update affiliates set StatusId = $row_member_status[0] ¦¦ $row_member_status_iyn[0] where AffiliateId = $row[0]";
$sth=$dbh->prepare($query) or die "Query prep failure.";
$sth->execute() or die "Query execute failure.";
$sth->finish;

I need to tell the script that either
$row_member_status[0]
or
$row_member_status_iyn[0]

but I don't know how to fix that line so that it uses either variable. It just uses the last option:
$row_member_status_iyn[0]

I don't know if this is clear, please let me know if anyone can help.