Hi, my name is Samantha, I’m 34 years old, and I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer—invasive ductal carcinoma, stage 1B, grade 3 of 3, meaning it’s fast-growing but thankfully caught early through routine screening. I carry the BRCA2 gene mutation, which I’ve known about since 2016 after my mom’s own battle with breast and ovarian cancer. Because of that, I’ve stayed on top of screenings—and this year, they found something.

After a whirlwind of appointments, tests, and biopsies. I had a bilateral mastectomy on April 29. The pathology results showed the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, which was a huge relief. But still requires some treatment. I’ve started chemotherapy, and it’s been difficult. Between surgery recovery, chemo side effects, and just trying to keep up with life, this is not a good time, emotionally mentally, physically or financially.

Just two weeks after surgery, I returned to work full-time. I’ve had to leave work often for treatment appointments, checkups, and lab visits, which makes it hard to keep a consistent routine and adds to the stress.

I’m a mom to two amazing kids—Mallory (11) and Carson (9)—who are my whole world. I also have an incredible and supportive partner, Josh, who has been by my side through all of this. He’s balancing caring for me, being there for the kids, managing his own work, and trying to keep our home running. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Even though I have good insurance, it comes with a high out-of-pocket maximum and steep co-pays. My surgery and port placement bills are already in the thousands, among all the miscellaneous other appointments. AND that’s before we even begin to process the incoming chemo expenses.

To make things harder, this was supposed to be a season of growth and building for our family. Our neighborhood covenants were recently lifted and our township officially became a city—this meant we could finally move forward with some long-awaited plans. Josh has been working on rebuilding a truck, we were hoping to build a small outbuilding for storage and tools, expand the chicken area, and even build a pasture so I could finally bring my horse home. These projects were part of a dream we’ve worked toward for years—and now, the financial strain of cancer treatment is putting all of that on hold.

I’m asking for help to relieve some of this pressure—so I can focus on healing, being present with my kids, and holding on to the pieces of our life we’ve worked so hard to build. If you’re able to donate, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you can’t, please consider sharing this or just sending a kind word our way. It all means so much.

With love,

Samantha