Help Samantha Swanner Kick Cancer’s Booty

If you know Samantha Swanner at all, then you know that she has dedicated her entire adult life to helping others. But now she needs your help. And she won’t ask you, so we’re asking you for her.

As many of you know, Sam was diagnosed with Stage II Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (Breast Cancer) with lymph node involvement on 5/13/22. The news was devastating for Sam and her young family—Sam and husband Ryan, a St. Charles firefighter, are parents to son James, 10, and daughter Isla, 2—but in true Sam fashion, she kept her chin up and announced the news on Facebook in her frank, lighthearted way:

I’ve got babies to raise and shit to do ✨

Cancer fucked with the wrong bitch

Yes, yes it did!

Unfortunately, after enduring 16 rounds of chemo and a bilateral mastectomy with sentinel node biopsy and reconstruction — during which time (over 6 months) Sam has been unable to work — Sam recently received news that she will need a second unanticipated surgery — a full axillary lymph node dissection to remove ALL nodes in her right arm. After this surgery, Sam will need to do OT and PT to decrease risk of lymphedema and maintain mobility, then move on to approximately 30 rounds of radiation. She will then take Verzenio for two years because she is now considered HIGH RISK for reoccurrence. This medication is associated with extremely high costs even with insurance. Sam will also have monthly injections to keep her ovaries asleep with hormone therapy (chemically induced menopause) for the next 10 years. She will also have to have at a minimum, one more surgery for reconstruction, but the average breast cancer patient ends up having 3-5 reconstruction surgeries.

Sam’s goal is to return to work at least part-time during the radiation phase, but whether and to what extent she will be able to do so remains uncertain.

Thus far, Sam and Ryan have been paying bills on savings that have now been depleted. 100% of funds raised will go towards paying their mortgage, groceries to feed those babies, utilities, current medical debt, future medical debt (co-pays, supplies, medications), diapers, clothes for the kids, preschool for Isla, and sports fees for James. They also have James in counseling and are looking for a therapist for themselves but that has been put on the back burner due to costs.

We know that everyone’s financial situation is different, but we are asking that people donate whatever they can — every little bit will help! And if you can’t donate, please consider resharing this page on your social networks! Our goal is to raise at least $50,000 for Sam and her young family, and we can’t do it without your help!

Thank you in advance for all your support! We love you guys!

Karly Poole and Katherine May-Bakke

#cancersucks #breastcancer #fuckcancer #cancerwarrior