Support Samantha Gilstrap’s Fight Against Cancer

Jaime Nelson is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Samantha Gilstrap.

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Samantha kicks butts. It’s what she does. She’s a personal trainer, which is like being a professional butt kicker. If you’ve ever taken a spin class from Samantha, you know what I mean. She’s also a single mom -- if you follow CV basketball (Go Bears!), you’ve probably noticed her almost 6’11” son. He’ll be a senior next year, and Samantha works hard to always show up and support him. Whenever she’s faced with a challenge, Samantha takes it on and kicks butt.

Last August, just after she turned 46, Samantha was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. As a professional butt kicker, Samantha took the challenge head-on: she immediately started a course of six chemotherapy treatments. These treatments, though, left her physically and mentally exhausted. The chemo brought nausea and weakness, and Samantha could no longer work as a trainer because of her compromised immune system. She pressed on, though, and after six treatments and a surgery in February, she was hopeful the fight was won.

The cancer wasn’t gone, though, and now she’s facing the next stage of the fight, with 14 more chemo treatments -- one every three weeks -- in addition to almost daily radiation treatments for several weeks. It’s not going to be easy.

Samantha’s been working part-time as much as she can, but her treatment schedule has really made it hard to pay the bills. She shows up for work, exhausted and sick, but unwilling to give up. At times during the next year, her treatments will keep her from working at all. Samantha wants to be there for her son as he finishes high school -- she doesn’t want to miss a moment -- but fighting cancer takes a toll in every possible way: physically, mentally, and financially. That’s where we come in. Raising money for Samantha will help pay the bills, reduce her stress, and allow her to be present as a mom. We can’t fight the cancer for her, but we can help make that fight possible.

If you know Samantha, you know that she’s not the type of person to ask for anything, and she avoids the spotlight. It’s just who she is. But she shouldn’t have to fight this on her own, and our contributions will make a difference. Samantha’s going to win this fight, and we can help.

Please join me in supporting Samantha as she kicks cancer’s butt.

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