Around this time almost exactly three years to the day, Samantha Klause would discover a lump in her breast while tending to her then 10-month-old baby.
Bringing the concern to her doctor, she would be told that it was probably just a clogged milk duct.
She would go on another five months believing that’s all it was until she went to the doctor again in March where she would learn that she had been misdiagnosed and she in fact had breast cancer.
“It’s something you never expect to hear,” she said. “You wonder how people are impacted by cancer. Did they know they were going to end up like this and how do they deal with it? But then you get thrown into it and you realize you don’t have a choice but to move forward. And that was my initial reaction. Like, buckle up, here we go.”
Within just a matter of minutes, Samantha would be taken to another office where she would have a biopsy performed and the doctor would go over the next steps and make appointments for treatment, giving her no time to completely process what was happening.
But Samantha knew that time was of the essence and thinking about her young children, the stakes were extremely high.
“The hardest part of my diagnosis, other than being told I had cancer, was the thought of my four kids. That’s been the power, strength and determination behind my three-year journey this far.”
Samantha knew she needed to tell them what was going on, but she didn’t want to place the burden of the severity of the situation on their shoulders.
She explained to them that she would be taking medicine that would change her appearance and overall well-being, but they didn’t need to be scared and their lives would remain normal.
“I was diagnosed in March and started chemotherapy in April, took six rounds every three weeks so I had several months of it. I lost my hair, which was never a big deal to me. I always had long hair, but was always drawn to shorter hair, so when I shaved my head, it was very liberating for me.”
“My kids adapted well to me shaving my head. The only thing I was skeptical of was I didn’t want to scare them with the changes I was going to be going through. I tried to keep my routine as normal as possible, but also include them in my decisions.”
After completing six rounds of chemo in July, Samantha would have a masectomy in August. After further testing showed that her lymph nodes were clear and the storm had seemingly passed, she would find herself in the emergency room that December, right before Christmas.
“It was December 22 and I was sweeping. I felt a pop like I had cracked a rib or something. I had all the kids with me and my husband was on his way home from work. When he got home, I told him that I may need to go to the emergency room. I’m not the kind of person to just jump and go to the emergency room, so it was a big decision for me to go.”
“They did a scan there to see if I had a broken rib or something like that, but they found a couple of masses in my lungs. My breast cancer had metastasized and spread.”
What should have been a time of celebrating with family during the holidays and ringing in a brand new year on a postive note was instead full of doctor’s appointments, scans and tests right from the start of 2024.
By March, Samantha was eager to spend some time with her family and head down to Galveston with her kids to visit her sister during spring break. But things would take another turn.
“I had a pain in my left leg and I thought it was just sciatic nerve pain. I didn’t think anything of it and took a couple of Tylenol. But I wasn’t able to walk pretty much the whole trip. I had a bone scan while I was there and found out that I had cancer in my femur.”
Upon returning home and realizing that the layout of her house would be nearly impossible to maneuver while doing every day tasks, Samantha would move into her parent’s house where they, along with her children and her husband, would care for her both emotionally and physically.
In April, she would have a rod placed in her femur, but because the the severity of the surgery, her other treatments had been placed on hold.
“I actually didn’t get to start treatment until the end of June. I had complications from the femur surgery and had hematoma where I was pretty much bleeding out and we didn’t know why or where, resulting in me getting five blood transfusions.”
While the endless testing, treatments and surgeries would generally be considered the most traumatic part of her experience, it was the inability to be independent that triggered her emotions.
“I had to teach myself how to walk again. I had to go from a wheelchair to a cane to finally being able to walk independently. Finally being able to come back home was a pretty big thing for me.”
She was able to resume her treatments in August and within just a couple of months, her progress has baffled the doctors, questioning what else she was doing that was aiding in her journey to recovery.
“I told my doctor that I love my life and I love my kids and that’s how I wake up every morning, just happy to be here.”
Along with the support of her family, Samantha recently found out that she also has the support of the entire community of Pampa after receiving a phone call from her sister, revealing to her that she had been chosen to be the recipient of funds raised during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
During the month of October, The Garden Owl and T-Shirts and More partnered with the Pampa Firefighter Association are giving a portion of their proceeds to Samantha and her family, a gesture of kindness that has left her completely overwhelmed.
“I feel like there’s worthier people than me and I don’t know if my story is worth telling. The fact that the community would do this for a stranger just blows my mind.”
Samantha’s treatments are still ongoing and she’s fully aware that the battle isn’t over, but she doesn’t allow that to completely overrun her life.
“Besides my weekly treatments, I am here to take care of my kids. I’m here to live this life that I’m fighting for.”
“This isn’t a journey of fear for me. I have a wonderful life and it’s full of hope and there’s a future. I’m just here and I’m livin’.”
