In this deeply personal and wide-ranging episode, Sara Champie interviews Beth Martinetti, a Pilates instructor, mother of three, and carrier of multiple genetic mutations including BRCA1 and CHEK2. The conversation begins with Beth Martinetti sharing her background in Princeton, New Jersey, and the surprising journey that led her to discover her genetic risks at age 45.
With honesty and wisdom, Sara Champie and Dr. Corinne Menn name the gaps in care—how misinformation and lack of medical training around menopause have shaped generations of patients and doctors, why early menopause needs specialized support, and how recent changes in FDA estrogen guidelines are shifting the landscape for hormone therapy. Most of all, this episode is a call to become the CEO of your own health, to find your voice, and to claim the space you need—emotionally, relationally, and medically.
From the trauma of childhood cancer experiences and the silence of past generations, to the drive for clarity and advocacy in the face of rare mutations, Martha Kaiser shares her search for answers, her journey through family history, and what it means to “flip the script” for her own children. Along the way, Sara Champie brings her trauma-informed therapeutic lens, honoring the complexity of living with hereditary cancer risk—the anxiety, guilt, and grief, but also the agency, connection, and hope that come from building community and reclaiming your story.
In this episode of Walking the Genetic Line, Sara Champie explores what “evidence-based care” really means — and what it misses when applied to the emotional landscape of hereditary cancer. She unpacks how the medical model values what can be measured, while therapy honors what can only be felt: safety, trust, and reconnection. Together, these two ways of knowing — science and relationship — shape a fuller path to healing.
Catherine Lewandowski discovered she carried BRCA2 in the wake of her father’s metastatic prostate cancer—and turned shock into agency by building a values-aligned care team, choosing a prophylactic mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction, and facing surgical menopause on her own terms. In this candid conversation, she shares the early shame and fear, the practical steps that eased recovery (from surgeon communication to listening to her body), and the unexpected joy of reclaiming strength through weight training and even learning tennis at midlife.
When we live with hereditary cancer risk, so much of life feels out of our control. In this solo episode, therapist and host Sara Champie, LCSW explores what it means to find security—not in the world around us, but within ourselves. Drawing from trauma-informed and depth-oriented perspectives, Sara unpacks the difference between external safety and internal security, reminding us that while we can’t always guarantee safety, we can cultivate trust in our own capacity to meet what life brings.
In this conversation, Lisa Sharpstone opens up about navigating life with hereditary cancer risk and the impact genetic testing has had on her body, relationships, and choices. We explore how she has faced uncertainty with courage, the ways she has found support, and what it means to reclaim agency in the midst of medical pressure and personal grief. Lisa’s story offers honesty, resilience, and hope for anyone walking the genetic line.
In this episode, Dr. Ladeana Jean reflects on what it means to live with hereditary cancer risk while holding onto intimacy and community. We explore how having a prophylactic double mastectomy at 19 years old, and losing her mother right after at 20, intersects with her professional life, and her commitment to breaking cycles of silence around illness. Through her story, Ladeana offers a grounded perspective on resilience, choice, and the power of speaking openly about genetic risk.
In this episode, teacher and writer Danielle Service shares her BRCA2 journey—from family cancer diagnoses to her own test results, surgical pressure, and the search for agency. We talk about sudden menopause, the complexities of hormone replacement therapy, and why slowing down to honor our bodies and choices matters. Danielle’s story blends humor, honesty, and depth as she works on her memoir, The Patriarchy Wants My Tits.
In this solo episode, I explore one of the most debated areas of care for BRCA mutation carriers: hormone replacement therapy (HRT). While evidence supports the use of systemic HRT for many BRCA carriers after risk-reducing surgery, fear and cultural stigma around hormones continue to shape medical recommendations.
In this agency-filled interview with Ananda, we discuss the daily opportunity to return to our fundamental choice about how we want to relate to whatever comes into our lives--including a cancer diagnosis and her genetic testing results.
In this episode, Violet walks us through the impact of watching her paternal aunt go through breast cancer in her early 30's, and her own journey to advocate for early scans and prophylactic surgeries.
In this episode Sara talks with Marisa Kimmel, whose social media accounts have grown quite a following due to her willingness to document and share about living with alopecia that she does not try to hide, and her choice to have a double mastectomy with aesthetic flat closure.
In this first episode of Walking the Genetic Line, host Sara Champie shares her personal story of losing her mother to ovarian cancer, discovering her own BRCA1 mutation, and navigating the lifelong uncertainty it brings. She reflects on how genetic risk is not just a medical reality but also an opening into grief, identity, family history, and intergenerational healing. This episode sets the tone for the series—real, human conversations about choice, agency, and reclaiming self-trust in the face of hereditary cancer risk.
