Samantha’s Story

Site created on February 26, 2022

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. 

On Sunday, February 20th 2022, Sam had a seizure while relaxing at home.  Afterwards, a friend took her to the emergency room where the doctors found the cause of her seizure: a tumor in her brain. That sounds scary, but it has likely been there for months, if not years. Initially, they believed the tumor was a low-grade glioma. After surgery it was determined that the tumor is an Astrocytoma, which indeed is a type of glioma.  

We will be using this site to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Samantha Troyer

It has been a crazy six months since the last update! I got married, biked across the state of Iowa, moved across the country, traveled here and there and everywhere, started substitute teaching, and am finally getting adjusted to life in Albuquerque. As far as my cancer care goes, first and foremost I am comfortably in the "no news is good news" phase. I had an MRI a few weeks back and everything is looking good. With that being said, it has been frustrating trying to get things taken of. I didn't realize how spoiled I was with the timeliness of my care in Iowa! There's a shortage of medical professionals here, so everything takes so much longer. For example, it takes 2 whole weeks to get the results from an MRI whereas in Iowa I was going over the results with my oncology team an hour after getting out of the machine. It just doesn't seem like they have a solid brain cancer team here, and at my last appointment they recommended a referral to the Barrow Institute. They specialize in neurology and are on the cutting edge of my kind of cancer. I'm currently in the process of setting things up with them, but, as always, these things take a little time. Once that gets straightened out, I'll (hopefully) be going to Phoenix a few times per year to meet with the Barrow folks.       

It will probably be a while before the next update. Happy Holidays and thanks for tuning in! 

Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Samantha Stay Connected to Family and Friends

A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Samantha's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?

Comments Hide comments

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top