These are just a few of the really bad times, he has been pulled out of school for extended periods of time. Can you even fathom?

I know this isn't about me but I want to add a little story about how Austin has personally helped me through some really hard times. About 2 years ago, on September 15th of 2005, I got an awful headache at about 9:30 or 10 o'clock in the morning. As the day went on it got worse, nothing made it better. That night I told my mom about how much it hurt. She ended up talking me to the doctor and then I was referred to several neurologists. Final the 3rd doctor I saw said it was time for a trip to mayo Clinic. So, off we went to Mayo. My neurologist was Dr. Fred M. Cutrer. He is one of the top 25 neurologists in the country. He read my numerous X-Rays and CT scans and noticed something strange. He thinks he saw a blood clot somewhere in the back of my brain. Because of this I have been in and out of hospitals all over Green Bay, I have had to return to school to finish the semester of school I missed last year. But worst of all I have had that headache for 15 months straight. I wake up with it every morning and go to sleep with it every night, I have good days and bad days but I have just learned to deal with it and come to grips that it is not going away.

I know some of you are thinking, what did that have to do with Austin and his Cancer? Well the point I was trying to make is that the one person I would think about when I was in the hospital was Austin. When I went in for my spinal tap the two things I thought about the most were my girlfriend and Austin. I just sat on that cold metal table and thought about how much it hurt and then I realized something, Austin gets spinal taps every week. He has got to the point that they don't even numb it anymore. What kind of will power, strength, and courage does it take to go through cancer? He was always the one I thought about when I just wanted to give up. I knew in the back of my head that if you asked Austin if he would ever just give up. I can almost guarantee that that thought had never even crossed his mind.

Well the reason I am doing this walk is to help one of the strongest people I know fight this terrible disease and to put out the word of things like Leukemia. One point that I want you to realize is that there are a lot of people out there that care but there is another side to that, there are also a lot of people out there that don't care. My ultimate goals are to raise money for cancer victims and to change as many hearts as I can.

I thank you for your time and I hope to be in contact soon,


Toby Kufahl