Quick Life Update!

Well hello everyone! So much has happened in the past little while I thought it would be appropriate to give you all just a quick update on my life. As of right now I'm laying in my hotel room bed at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, WA. I can't seem to fall asleep so I thought I would use my time to blog to you all! So, here's a quick update on whats going on in my life...

Corbin got his mission call to Seoul Korea! Happy, yet sad to see this kid leave. We've really grown close over the past 2 years and its going to kill me to let him leave me. Especially to somewhere like Seoul Korea where dogs and cats are a part of the restaurant's menu. Beside the poor choice of food, I'm very excited for him! He goes into the MTC (missionary training center) on May 16. He's going to be a great missionary and will stand out immensely considering he is 6'9"

Bronson comes home July 24th! Sad to see one brother leave and the other return but I guess its all part of this thing called life and mormon culture. I know missions are good for them but I just hate sending my little boys away for 2 years!

Lady Antebellum Concert!! For all you that hate country music, shame on you! This Valentines day I went to the Lady Antebellum concert accompanied by Jess, Corbin, and our friend Mariah. It was such an AMAZING concert. I would advise all of you to listen to their music. They are great on my ipod and even better live.

Basketball... well everyone basketball season was great! We completed our last conference game tonight. We didn't get the win but it was a well fought battle. We lost to Gonzaga today and well to be honest they're a great team with some really great players. We fought hard and ended up taking second in our conference. This upcoming week starts the WCC Conference Tournament in Las Vegas! Wish us luck as we go to win the tournament with hopes of getting a bid into the NCAA tournament!

Steph got engaged! If you've been following my blog from day 1 you would recognize the name Steph. Steph is not only my teammate but one of my best friends who's been by my side through cancer and well, everything else the past 3 years. She recently got engaged to her lover boy Travis! They'll be getting married this June up in her motherland aka Canada. So guess who's going to canada once again??? ME! This time I hope my energy levels are a little better so I don't just sleep my days away. Congrats Steph and Trav!!

Random side notes in my life...

1. I hate the snow! So naturally it snows the second we get to Spokane. All I know is it better be nice weather in Provo.
2. New iPhone 4s next month! 
3. Summer job... Maybe something that allows me to work early mornings or nights? I need my days available for basketball. If you have any ideas let me know. 
4. I hate School! Good thing I graduate soon. 
5. Nordstroms closed in Orem today :( Now I have to drive clear up to either Draper or Salt Lake to get my clothes. Sad day for me.
6. I have this new odd obsession with this musical artist by the name of Ed Sheeran. I can't get enough of him. Seriously I know its bad when its pre game and instead of my usual pre game music I'm having a jam sesh to some Ed Sheeran over my normal 311.
7. Pinterest... New distraction in life! Love it to death, but it really does take up quite a bit of my time lately... oh well.
8. My Uncle Jason is now working at BYU! Bout time we get more Kaufusi boys down here.
9. I miss being bald so much lately!! Ugh... 

Well enough of my random blabbing about my life. I almost forgot, quick health update... No cancer appointments for like, 2 months??? What am I gonna do with myself?? Oh and the new "acid reflux stomach diet thing" is hard, but its helping as long as I follow it, along with lots of pepto and stomach medicine. Only thing that is going to take medical care is the same tooth that hopefully is getting removed on Monday. Hope you all are having a lovely February. I will keep you all up to date on how next weekend goes at the Conference Tournament. GO COUGARS!

Love, Alexis

Let the break continue!

Me, Tenley, and Shawna

Well...  I have some great news! Yesterday I spent the afternoon and into the night at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and well, I'm still healthy! Besides the usual stomach and tooth issues as of late, my cancer is still holding still. Theres still the one little flare up but it looks the same so let the fun begin! After meeting with Dr. Glen I feel so much better about everything. She said majority of people have it come back within the first 2 years, most of those people coming back in the first year. Praise the lord, I beat the first year! If I can stay healthy now throughout this next year my life expectancy goes up way high which is always a plus. As for the stomach issues. The biopsies came back clean. No cancer was found which is nice. They said I have some acid reflux issues and for whatever reason the sphincter that holds my food in. So while some people get a stomach ache and just are in pain or get heart burn, instead I just throw up everywhere. So to help I'm on a higher does of my medicine. I was also given a list of foods I should stay away from. Some of those things are chocolate, caffeine, carbonated drinks, any kind of mint, tomatoes, citruses, and dairy. Dr. Glenn said not to necessarily avoid all of these foods but to eat them minimally. So time to change up the diet even more. For the past few months I've been off red meat. It's been really easy except when I drive by In-N-Out. Then I realize how much I miss red meat after all. Oh well those things happen. Turkey burgers taste way better anyways! I talked with Dr. Glenn and we thought it would be ok for me to take a break from ALL cancer doctor appointments until after school and basketball wrap up. That means nothing until end of May/June. All I know is I'm going to sleep much better at nights not stressing about my check ups!

Amy, Tenley, Shawna, Mary, Gypsy Lady, Me

Along with my visit to the Huntsman I also stopped and visited my new hero Miss Tenley Wilson. I talked about Tenley in an earlier blog post but here's some more detail about her situation and my connection to her. Before my family relocated to Provo we lived up in Holladay, Utah (small area in SLC). One of Corbin's best friends was a boy named Taylor Cox. They played basketball, soccer, and baseball together so we became very close to Taylor's family over the years of sporting events. I would consider their family one of our closest family friends. Taylor's parents Neil and Mary were some of my parents close friends. After we moved we did our best to keep in touch but distance always creates some barriers as everyone knows. The Cox family has had some trials throughout their lives. Taylor's father Neil passed about a few years ago and as of recent Taylor's older sister Shawna has had two little girls of her own. Shawna's 2-year-old Tenley was recently diagnosed with AML (acute myloid leukemia). So once again we find ourselves close to the Cox family. Yesterday we stopped by their house and visited little Tenley. I've never seen such a cute little girl and with so much energy! She was all over the place. Running around with the dog, showing us books, going through pictures, and just from one place to the next never holding still. I think back to when I was sick and I would have done anything to have that energy! I could tell from when I saw her she was a fighter. She has a feisty little spirit about her that made me want to be just like her. Keep Tenley in your prayers though. I know she's going to beat this, I just wish she didn't have to go through it at such a young age.

Future Elder Kaufusi

Current Elder Kaufusi

Well there you have it! Break continues until after the semester and basketball. Some other exciting things are coming up though I think you'd all like to be aware of...

1. Corbin's mission call comes TODAY! (we think)
2. BYU spring football is around the corner... Corbin is playing in the spring ball game!
3. Tomorrow my team and I will take on Gonzaga! This is probably the biggest game of the season. Its Thursday the 9th, 7:00 at the Marriott Center. Come watch if you have nothing to do we need all the fans we can get for this one!
4. Tooth extraction maybe a bone graft? We will find out later this week. 
5. Valentines day... I don't have one... But I'll be enjoying the Lady Antebellum concert with Corbin, Steph, and Jess. 
6. Bronson comes home this July! Watch out ladies Provo's most eligible bachelor is coming home

Well those are top events I can think of. I'll keep you all updated on everything going on in my life as well as the Kaufusi family. Thank you for all your prayers. They are working!! Love you all and have an amazing February and Valentines day!

Love, 

Alexis 

PS... If you haven't ever been to ME Crepes in Provo, go now! Strawberries and Creme with ice cream is the BEST crepe ever! https://www.facebook.com/mecrepes

1 Year Anniversary! More like to the week of...

Well my dear friends and family, can you believe its been a year since I was first diagnosed?? Its hard for me to pin an exact day as to when I was diagnosed. It was kind of the entire month of February till March 1 that took the entire time to diagnose. Here's kind of a break down as to exactly how it all went down.

Feb 3: Initial CT Scan of neck
Feb 4: First surgery - biopsy and removal of a lymph nodeFeb 7: UVRMC diagnosis of Hodgkins Lymphoma
Feb 10: First visit to Huntsman Cancer Institute with Dr. Martha Glenn
Feb 11: Porsche joins the family!
Feb 17: PET scans and other CAT scans at Huntsman
Feb 22: Second Biopsy at University of Utah hospital.
Feb 25: Diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, large B-cell. Stage 3 (Huntsman)
Mar 1: Non Hodgkins T Cell Rich Cell, Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma, Stage 4 (Huntsman)


Its crazy that it took an entire month to get a proper diagnosis but patience is a virtue. As we've learned throughout this entire cancer adventure. So to celebrate the year mark of being diagnosed I started my day off by waking up at 6am. I then had breakfast with my team then we made our way home to Salt Lake City from where we were in LA. We had lunch as a team, practiced as a team, then I came home to where the real fun started. My entire house was plastered with pictures my mom had blown up of pictures of the whole cancer experience. There was also a three layer chocolate cake from Magleby's (my favorite) as well as my favorite dinner spaghetti and caesar salad. To top the night off my friends Steph, Jess (new to the crew) , Ashley, and Boo (Ashley's boyfriend) came over to help celebrate. As well as Eva and Todd Fisher (Ashley's parents). It was such a fun and special night. 


I can't believe it was exactly a year ago I got diagnosed and my entire life took a turn for the better. Better meaning even though it wasn't an ideal situation it was also good for me because I learned so much and grew up over the past year. This upcoming Tuesday is a big day. I go in for my check up. It will be a long day at the Huntsman Center filled with lots of PET scans, CT scans, blood work, and whatever other kind of torture they want to put me through. I will keep you all posted on the findings of the scans, blood work,  my stupid tooth, as well as the results of my stomach biopsy. You can be expecting a new post hopefully by Thursday or Friday. Love you all!


Love,
Alexis and Porsche