Today (as I'm writing this) is exactly 6 months before the 2022 Carolinas Brain Tumor Race. 2022 marks the tenth anniversary of my initial diagnosis and I am so grateful for all of the support I've received since then - but I'm asking for more. If you're in Greenwood, Greenville, Columbia, or Greensboro, driving to Charlotte is only a day trip! I would be so glad to have you come support me, in person, at the Carolinas Brain Tumor Race.

I've set my goal as $3400 - $100 for each year I've been on this earth. Please consider donating if you're not able to attend (or both! if you are able).

For those who may not know...

• I was diagnosed with a Grade 2 Astrocytoma (VoldeBane) in June of 2012. Thanks to the many prayers and well wishes from friends and family and the incredible skill of a wonderful neurosurgeon (BatPotter), I had a successful total resection of the tumor in August of that same year. Follow-up MRI's have all come back with positive results and I continue to live brain tumor free! I passed the 5 year mark in August, 2017, which is awesome!

• My mother, Lee Long, was diagnosed with a Grade 4 Glioblastoma in May of 2014. She underwent surgery, radiation, and chemo and fought with more grace and positivity than anyone could have ever imagined. In the great Jeremy Long’s (paraphrased) words, “she didn’t lose the battle with cancer, she won the war of life.” She left our world July 13, 2015. I know she was welcomed to Heaven by Bertha, Harold (her father and my namesake), Beth, Jesus, and a plethora of others who’d left this world before she did. She finally met Roy, my paternal grandfather who passed before she even met my dad.

No one is safe - even heroic figures like John McCain. We are uniting with others to make a difference in the fight against brain tumors. We are passionate about this cause, so we're taking action. We need your help in this fight. National Brain Tumor Society will not rest until a cure exists - but more needs to be done. Please join in our effort via donations, participation, both, or however you can!