Birthday on the 11th.

I never would have guessed that 8 years ago (9 in October) I would be where I am. I was a wide-eyed 17 year old with my sites set on a career
in neurosurgery. I never would have guessed that I would be fighting for my life come October. I’m beyond blessed to still be alive given that a neurosurgeon had told my parents that euthanasia would be better than the quality of life I could expect. My parents didn’t give up on me and brought me home after we went through St. Luke's rehab hospital and our stay was cut short due to insurance reasons. I didn’t give up either and set a goal of proving all the negative doctors wrong! You can find my full story at www.brendendenstandingstrong.com and on the home Page of this site! I no longer wanted to be a neurosurgeon because of that experience (you can't live with the dead and not wind up dead) but I found a new passion with fitness. I got a set of 550 bowflex select tech dumbbells but, during quarantine, I outgrew them and decided to upgrade. Luckily my birthday was coming up so I asked for:​

1. Adjustable bench https://amzn.to/2Pu1Auk
2. ​bowflex 1090 dumbbells https://amzn.to/2PEbfP7

• I figured, the gym isn’t going to open for a while so I need some heavier weights. The dumbbells were like $870 so I wasn’t going to ask for much more. One big present was enough for me. The bench would just make it easier to use the dumbbells.