Pull-ups For a Cure

May is National Brain Tumor Awareness month. I currently have two friends who have been diagnosed with brain tumors. They are among 600,000 people in the United States living with a brain tumor diagnosis. One of my friends, Lauriel Luther, was diagnosed just over a year ago. She underwent surgery which removed the tumor and continues to fight with numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, and infusions. Her last MRI scan was clear showing that her treatment is working but she will continue to fight every day for the rest of her life.

In an effort to raise awareness for these amazing individuals, she has created Pull-ups For A Cure. For the months of May, I will join her in completing a set of max-rep dead-hang pull-ups. When chatting with her about this, she said, "There are plenty of times where I was down and relied on others to lift me up. This isn't a fund raiser, it's about raising awareness and lifting up people when they get down." 

For the month of May, please join me in completing a set of pull-ups for those living with the reality of this diagnosis.  Even if you can't devote every day to doing pull-ups, do it whenever you are able. Use a band if you need to, it doesn't matter. It is all about being aware, raising awareness of others, and supporting these amazingly strong people. 

I did my first set this morning and got 4 reps. I did them thinking about Lauriel and my friend's sister, Leah. Hopefully my number of pull-ups will grow as the month progresses, just like our awareness.