Guest: Katie McMurray Theme: BRCA1, sisterhood, developmental trauma, and choosing preventative surgery in young adulthood

Episode summary

When Katie was 17, she lost her mother to breast cancer. Years later, genetic testing confirmed what she had long suspected: she carries a BRCA1 mutation. In this episode, Katie and Sara Champie explore what happens when grief resurfaces through genetic testing — how identity shifts, how fear and agency intertwine, and how the loss of a parent shapes medical decision-making.

At 25, during the height of COVID, Katie chose preventative mastectomy surgery. As the oldest of three sisters who all inherited the mutation, she navigated her own fear while becoming a model of courage and clarity for her family. This conversation holds the tender, complex emotional terrain that genetic testing opens — far beyond the lab result.

We cover

• Losing her mother to breast cancer as a teenager

• Receiving BRCA1 results in person with a genetic counselor — and why that mattered

• The emotional shock of genetic testing and how it reactivates grief

• The identity shift between "pre-testing" and "post-testing" self

• Why surgery felt like a non-negotiable choice

• The psychological cost of ongoing surveillance vs. preventative surgery

• Being the oldest sister after parental loss

• All three sisters inheriting the mutation

• The role of sisterhood and care during recovery

• COVID, surgery at 25, and finding readiness

• The limitations of cancer-focused support groups for previvors

• Why trauma-informed and therapy referrals should accompany genetic testing

Highlights & takeaways

• "There's a pre-genetic testing you and a post-genetic testing you. You can't go back."

• Genetic testing is never "just a lab test" — it reverberates through identity, family, and history.

• Losing a parent to cancer transforms how the body receives risk information.

• Preventative surgery can be an act of agency — not fear.

• Support matters: an in-person genetic counselor changed the trajectory of Katie's experience.

• Sisterhood became both a source of care and a mirror of generational courage.

Content note

This episode includes discussion of parental death, adolescent grief, preventative mastectomy, genetic cancer risk, identity disruption, abusive relationships, and emotional processing around hereditary cancer.

Resources mentioned

• The Breasties – community support for young women impacted by breast and ovarian cancer

• Genetic counseling services through comprehensive breast centers

• Trauma-informed therapy for individuals navigating hereditary cancer risk

Connect

If this episode resonated, please follow, rate, and share Walking the Genetic Line.

Find Sara Champie on Instagram and TikTok @SaraChampieLCSW for trauma-informed resources, therapy offerings, and group support.

You are not alone in this.

Let's walk this line, together.

Guest: Ingrid Nishimoto, LCSW

Theme: Inherited Narratives—Moving Beyond the Parent's Story to Claim Your Own

Episode Summary

When Ingrid Nishimoto was diagnosed with Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome at age 17, she wasn't just handed a medical management plan; she was handed a mirror of her father's life and early death. In this profound conversation with Sara Champie, LCSW, Ingrid explores the "Time Collapse" that occurs when a genetic diagnosis makes the past and future converge in the present. As a fellow psychotherapist, Ingrid deconstructs the emotional burden of living past the age a parent died, the adaptive nature of hyper-vigilance, and the radical act of choosing her own path in a medical system that often prioritizes physical data over the human soul.

We Cover

• The Origin Story: Discovering Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome at 17 after years of "nameless" abdominal pain and the visible markers of pigmentation—and the immediate shift from high-school senior to a high-risk patient.

• Intergenerational Inheritance: Navigating the grief and anger of "replacing" a parent's narrative, specifically the complexity of living past the age of 37—the year Ingrid's father passed away from the same condition.

• The "Responsibility Reflex" in Healthcare: How high-achievers often try to "figure it all out" or over-function as a survival strategy when faced with medical uncertainty.

• Medical vs. Emotional Care: The gap in the Western medical system where physical scans are prioritized, but the mental health impact of "waiting for results" is often left unaddressed.

• Relationship to Risk: A deep dive into "Risk-Neutral Spaces"—learning that there is no right or wrong way to feel about screening, and how Ingrid moved from rigid self-protection to a more expansive relationship with her body.

• The Burden of Choice: Deciding between the stability of an employer-based health system and the agency of private practice while carrying a "pre-existing" genetic reality.

Highlights & Takeaways

• "My Story is Unique": A genetic mutation may be inherited, but the narrative you build around it is yours to claim. You are not doomed to repeat the past.

• The Body as Information: Physical symptoms, like hyper-vigilance or "racing heart" during scans, are not flaws; they are the nervous system's attempt to keep you safe.

• Permission for Ambivalence: It is possible to be grateful for medical technology while simultaneously feeling anger or protest toward the burden it places on your life.

• Slowing Down the Reaction: Meaningful decision-making requires emotional safety and the permission to "not know" the future while staying grounded in the present.

Content Note

This episode discusses hereditary cancer syndromes, the loss of a parent, medical trauma, surgical anxiety, and the emotional complexities of long-term monitoring.

Resources Mentioned

• Ingrid Nishimoto, LCSW: Connect with Ingrid and her private practice work at ingridnishimototherapy.com.

• The Responsibility Reflex Quiz: Take the quiz to discover your survival strategies under medical stress at sarachampielcsw.com.

• Face the Risk Together: Sara Champie's 10-week psychotherapy group for women and gender-diverse people in California.

• Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS) Information: NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders) .

Connect

If this conversation resonates, please follow, rate, and share. Help us reach the high-achieving "over-functioners" who need to know they don't have to carry the risk alone. Instagram: @FaceTheRiskTogether Web: www.sarachampielcsw.com

Guest: Sara Kavanaugh Theme: Living as a Previvor—Agency, Advocacy, and Reframing Anxiety After Genetic Testing

Episode summary When Sara Kavanaugh learned she carried mutations in her MSH6 (Lynch syndrome) and Check2 genes, she moved from decades of health anxiety—and ambiguous uncertainty—to a new sense of empowerment and structure. In this dialogue with psychotherapist and fellow traveler Sara Champie, Sara shares how learning her genetic status fundamentally changed her identity, led her to fierce self-advocacy, and inspired her to create the Positive Gene Podcast—a resource and anchor for others navigating hereditary cancer risk.

We cover

• The personal journey: From ingrained health anxiety to seeing genetic knowledge as a "gift" that brings clarity, agency, and actionable plans.

• What it means to be a "previvor": Lived reality, screening protocols, and the invisible challenges of those at elevated risk—but without a cancer diagnosis.

• Parenting at midlife: Navigating genetic risk with two young children and the hopes/fears for future generations.

• Building self-advocacy in the medical system: How to develop real relationships with providers, advocate when facing dismissive care, and bridge gaps in awareness (including doctors who don't know Lynch syndrome!).

• The role of intuition and anxiety: Reframing lifelong anxiety toward health into self-protection and intuition, rather than pathology.

• Creating the Positive Gene Podcast: Choosing curiosity, connection, and education as vehicles for healing and collective empowerment.

• Identity and healing: Drawing on moments from childhood (challenging authority, resisting labels like "flighty") to claim agency and redefine self-worth after a life-changing diagnosis.

Highlights & takeaways

• "Knowledge is power." For many, genetic test results shift fear into structure, agency, and meaningful decision-making.

• Previvors often live unseen—managing complicated protocols, moving between providers, advocating for themselves, and carrying risk that isn't always visible or understood.

• The relationship with your healthcare provider matters. Connection and trust can transform screenings and mitigate isolation.

• Healing is possible even in uncertainty: You can use your experience for growth, connection, and to model integrity and resilience for loved ones.

• Advocacy starts early—standing up to being underestimated (even as a child) can inform your agency as an adult facing difficult realities.

Content note This episode discusses cancer risk, genetic mutations, parenting with uncertainty, health anxiety, identity shifts, and emotional processing after major life events.

Resources mentioned

• Positive Gene Podcast: Listen and connect at positivegenepodcast.com or via Sara Kavanough's LinkedIn or Instagram @positivegenepodcast

• FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered): https://www.facingourrisk.org — leading national organization for hereditary cancer advocacy/support groups

• National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC): https://www.nsgc.org/ — find certified genetic counselors for hereditary cancer risk

• Lynch Syndrome International: https://lynchcancers.org — resources for people with Lynch syndrome

• Check2 gene mutation information (NIH Genetics Home Reference): https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/chek2/

• Face the Risk Together: Host Sara's Champie's support groups for people in Calfornia: www.sarachampielcsw.com

Connect

If this conversation resonates, don't forget to follow, rate, and share the show. Find Sara Champie on IG @FaceTheRiskTogether and www.sarachampielcsw.com to get free resources + access to 1:1 and group support.

You already speak this language—come walk the genetic line with us.

Guest: Sara Kourouma Theme: Loss, agency, and community—the emotional journey of living with BRCA2

Episode summary When Sara Kourouma discovered she carried the BRCA2 mutation as a young adult—after losing her mother to breast cancer at age 10—she was thrust into a landscape defined by uncertainty, risk, and the weight of generational loss. In this episode, Sara Champie sits down with Sara Kourouma, a clinical social worker serving New York and Texas, to explore how privilege, access, grief, and human connection have shaped her journey through surveillance, multiple prophylactic surgeries, and finding a sacred role in supporting others living with hereditary cancer risk.

We cover

• Childhood loss and the evolution of understanding risk: Growing up after her mother's passing, and how major developmental milestones brought a fresh wave of grief and questioning.

• Early genetic testing and access barriers: Navigating the impact of genetic knowledge on health and life insurance, and the privilege of paying out-of-pocket to keep results private.

• Decision-making in the shadow of family history: How approaching her mother's age at diagnosis shaped Sara Kourouma's relationship to her own risk and medical choices.

• Choosing prophylactic surgeries and finding agency: Why Sara Kourouma ultimately chose mastectomy, hysterectomy, and DIEP flap (autologous) reconstruction—and the emotional labor of claiming her needs as a parent and partner.

• The gaps in psychological care: The critical difference between medical expertise and psychosocial support, and the healing power of group connection and lived experience.

• Building community, in person and virtually: Why message boards aren't enough, and the importance of human-to-human support for navigating body changes, hormones, and life transitions.

• Living with ongoing risk and uncertainty: The ever-changing landscape of surveillance, learning to listen to her body, and the meaning of living fully, today.

Highlights & takeaways

• "To be alive is risk. We happen to know our risk, and how can I use that information to empower myself in ways my mom never could?"

• Privilege and access shape every aspect of care and decision-making—financial, relational, and emotional.

• There's profound healing in being witnessed by those who truly understand your experience—community is as vital as medical care.

• Living fully with risk doesn't mean denying uncertainty, but learning to stay present, ask for help, and make meaning together.

• "My mother's story lives on as a value in my life: live fully, make it meaningful."

Content note This episode includes discussion of childhood bereavement, parental death, surgical details, genetic testing, body image, and navigating privilege and access in medical care.

Resources mentioned

• DIEP flap (autologous) breast reconstruction

• BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations – information and support from FORCE

• Surgical menopause and hormone management

• Dr. Potter, Austin—reconstruction surgeon referenced in the episode

• Dr. Robson, BRCA research at Memorial Sloan Kettering

• BRCA mutation carriers: Reddit and Facebook peer-to-peer groups | BRCA Sisterhood Facebook Group

• Dr. Men, BRCA2 carrier & social educator on Instagram (discussed in this episode)

Connect If this conversation resonated, please follow, rate, and share. Find Sara Champie on IG/TikTok @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools + therapy/support group offerings via the link in bio.

You're not alone—we can walk this line together.

Episode Summary

When Beth Martinetti—Pilates instructor, mother of three, and lifelong student of her own body—discovered multiple genetic mutations at 45, it was the latest chapter in a lifetime shaped by both visible and invisible challenges. Beth shares her journey from adolescent injury and Ehlers-Danlos diagnosis, through complicated pregnancies, to a midlife cascade: mysterious symptoms, pivotal encounters with validating doctors, and ultimately, the discovery that she carries BRCA1, CHEK2, and a variant in BARD1. Still in the thick of surgical recovery, Beth invites us into her real-time experience of risk, loss, uncertainty, and the incremental reclaiming of agency and meaning.

We Cover

• Medical and developmental trauma: How early diagnoses and pain shaped Beth's body awareness, resilience, and vigilance

• Pregnancy, miscarriage, and marginalization: What it meant to be repeatedly dismissed or minimized, and the life-changing impact of a single attuned provider

• Living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and the way hypermobility, hormonal issues, and reproductive challenges intersected over decades

• Self-advocacy in the medical system: Learning to read her own imaging, question dismissive providers, and push for genetic testing

• Receiving her results: The shock and surreal rupture when Beth learned she carried BRCA1 and CHEK2, and the weight of sharing that with her family—while standing in the woods at Yosemite

• Supporting adolescent and younger children through the ripple effects of maternal illness, body changes, and genetic risk

• The embodied experience of surgery—from hysterectomy to gallbladder removal, oophorectomy, and mastectomy—and the real-time challenges of surgical complications, infection, and body image shifts

• Grief, agency, and legacy: Parenting through vulnerability, modeling emotional honesty, and holding fear, gratitude, and fatigue at once

• The role of partners and community: How a supportive spouse, trusted friends, and peer connections make survival—and joy—possible

Highlights & Takeaways

• Finding just one attuned, validating provider (sometimes for a single appointment) can be a turning point—emotionally and medically.

• Self-advocacy is a moving target: sometimes it's reading your own reports, sometimes it's knowing when a care team isn't right, and sometimes it's asking for help again and again.

• Living through "the middle" means holding both gratitude and disappointment, joy and exhaustion; honoring the whole experience matters.

• Parenting with genetic risk is about more than "staying positive"—it's also about being honest, modeling emotional self-care, and letting children see resilience as well as struggle.

• Surgical recovery is seldom linear, and body image is an ongoing conversation—one best held with authenticity and support.

Content Note

This episode includes discussion of miscarriage and pregnancy loss, surgical details, body image, medical trauma, and the emotional experience of hereditary cancer risk.

Resources Mentioned

• Genetic Testing and Support

  • FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered): Facing Our Risk

  • Bright Pink (educational/support community for hereditary cancer): Bright Pink

  • Penn Medicine Basser Center for BRCA: Basser Center

• Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes

  • The Ehlers-Danlos Society

• Pelvic Floor Health & Menopause Support

  • The Menopause Society (formerly NAMS)

• Body Image after Surgery

  • The Breasties (support community for young women affected by breast and gynecologic cancers)

• Podcast host:

  • Sara Champie's therapy/wellness resources and group offerings

Connect

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share. Find Sara on IG/TikTok @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools + support group info via the link in bio.

You're not alone—this is a line we walk together.

Want to tell your story, share feedback, or learn about future groups? DM or email Sara via IG/TikTok.

Guest: Dr. Corinne Menn Theme: Claiming agency in hereditary cancer risk, surgical menopause, and a new era of HRT care

Episode summary When Dr. Corinne Menn—board certified OB/GYN, Menopause Society certified practitioner, 23+ year breast cancer survivor, and BRCA2 carrier—joins us, she brings unparalleled lived and clinical expertise to walking the genetic line. In this conversation, Dr. Corinne Menn shares her deeply personal journey: breast cancer at 28, the loss of her mother to ovarian cancer, and the years navigating her own genetic risk and premature menopause. Together, we explore why BRCA (and other mutation) "previvors" often land in a black hole of care, how miscommunication and provider fear still undermine evidence-based treatment, and the hopeful shift as new guidelines and cultural change begin to reshape what's possible for those living at hereditary risk.

We cover

• Dr. Corinne Menn

  's origin story: the collision of residency, a breast cancer diagnosis in her 20s, and her mother's ovarian cancer and loss

• How outdated genetic testing, medical gaslighting, and trauma shaped her assertiveness as both patient and physician

• The "CEO of your health" mindset: building self-trust and voice inside overwhelming medical realities

• The giant gap in menopause and HRT education across the entire medical field (~20 years of misinformation and fear after the WHI study)

• What most doctors STILL get wrong about HRT for BRCA carriers—and how new FDA changes and Menopause Society guidelines support safer, more nuanced use

• Proactive care: why pre-surgery counseling and immediate access to HRT matter for quality of life, bone, heart, and brain health

• "Female castration"—naming the reality and impact of surgical menopause and how it's minimized systemically

• How trauma-informed therapy and a more holistic approach are essential for hereditary cancer communities and all patients in medical systems

Highlights & takeaways

• "All BRCA previvors must demand pre-op counseling and a pre-op management plan on how their doctor is going to manage their abrupt surgical menopause. This is not optional."

• The harm of not providing HRT after surgical menopause is severe: double the risk of heart disease, dementia, osteoporosis, mood disorders—especially for those under 45.

• New FDA changes (Spring 2024): the black box warning on estrogen is being removed/updated, allowing for clearer, less fear-based counseling about HRT's risks and benefits.

• For BRCA (and other mutation) carriers, HRT up to natural menopause is standard of care. The fear of HRT, especially after risk-reducing surgeries, is both outdated and damaging.

• Genitourinary syndrome of menopause deserves more attention and treatment—local vaginal estrogen is safe, effective, and newly destigmatized.

• "If you wouldn't tell a man at 31 who lost his testicles to just try coconut oil—don't do that to female patients after oophorectomy."

Content note Includes discussion of parental death, breast/ovarian cancer, early menopause, medical trauma, sexual health, and systemic gaps in care.

Resources mentioned & organizations

• NCCN Guidelines on Risk Reduction & HRT: NCCN.org

• The Menopause Society (formerly NAMS): menopause.org

• A New Era of Hormone Therapy: FDA Update on Estrogen Labeling: See FDA press releases and The Menopause Society's statement

• Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in BRCA+: NIH overview

• Dr. Menn's Instagram: @drmennobgyn

• Dr. Menn's Substack + education for previvors: drmenn.substack.com

• MyAllo.com — telehealth menopause & cancer survivorship platform with expert providers in all 50 states: myallo.com

• Support & therapy for hereditary cancer risk: Bright Pink, FORCE - Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered

Connect

If this episode resonated, please follow, rate, and share. Find Sara on IG/TikTok @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools, group support, and offerings at the link in bio. You're not alone—we can walk this line together.

Guest: Martha Kaiser Theme: Walking with CDKN2A, Ancestral Discovery, and Agency in Rare Genetic Mutations

Episode Summary When Martha Kaiser discovered she carries the rare CDKN2A gene mutation—known for elevating risks of melanoma and pancreatic cancer—her journey shifted from uncertainty, loss, and family trauma to active agency and deep exploration. In this conversation, she shares not only the medical dimensions of living with a lesser-known mutation, but how intergenerational silence, gut intuition, and the drive to protect her children led her to become both a patient advocate and a creative genealogist, tracing the roots and ripple effects of her family's cancer history. Her story explores how knowledge, connection, and community can bring both practical peace and a kind of healing across generations.

We Cover

• The emotional backdrop: losing her mother young to multiple cancers, and carrying a sense of unspoken family trauma

• How shifting cancer narratives across generations inspired Martha's vow for transparency and openness with her own children

• The surprise and shock of receiving a positive CDKN2A result after full-panel genetic testing (having initially been tested for BRCA)

• Navigating surveillance for pancreatic, brain, and breast cancers with annual MRIs, endoscopies, and proactive self-advocacy

• Turning to genealogy—and partnering with Connect My Variant and BYU researchers—to untangle the ancestral origins of her "typo" and connect with long-lost relatives

• Processing the identity shift and agency that comes with rare mutation status: from isolation to making new friends and finding meaning as an advocate

• Reframing medical anxiety: how regular imaging, informed conversations, and community lessen the burden of living with ongoing risk

• The evolving relationship with guilt, responsibility, and legacy after learning she passed her mutation on to two of her three children

• Claiming the power of knowledge—and the importance of finding your people

Highlights & Takeaways

• "It finally kind of put some validity to this… thought that I was growing melanoma for no reason."

• Intergenerational silence around illness can be shifted—with honesty, consent, and honoring each child's readiness to know.

• Agency in rare mutations includes not just self-care, but reaching out to others—family, friends, and online communities—for knowledge, relief, and the possibility of healing old wounds.

• Surveillance isn't just clinical; it can be emotionally stabilizing, creating peace in uncertain bodies and family systems.

• There can be empowerment, relief, and even beauty in hunting down the "typo" in the family tree—and meeting kin who share it.

• Community, data, and emotional support aren't separate—a rare mutation journey is richer with all three.

Content Note This episode includes discussion of parental illness and death, intergenerational trauma, genetic guilt, and medical anxiety.

Resources Mentioned

• CDKN2A Mutation Information – Gene Reviews

• Connect My Variant – a project for connecting families who share rare genetic variants

• FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered

• My Faulty Gene (Kathy Baker's resource for hereditary cancer support)

• Post-mastectomy pain syndrome (general resource)

• BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy

• Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

• AncestryDNA

Connect

If this episode resonated, please follow, rate, and share. Find Sara on IG @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools + 1:1/group offerings via the link in bio. You're not alone—we can walk this line together.

🧬 Episode Summary

In this solo episode, host Sara Champie, LCSW, explores one of the most common phrases in medicine and psychology—evidence-based care—and what it really means when we apply it to lived human experience.

Sara walks us through the two definitions that often get conflated: evidence-based research, which measures outcomes in controlled studies, and evidence-based practice, which integrates science, clinical wisdom, and a client's unique values and culture. She then bridges these frameworks through the lens of hereditary cancer risk, showing how the most profound healing often happens in the spaces that data cannot measure—connection, attunement, grief, and identity.

Through stories of life after surgery and survivorship, Sara invites us to consider that "the connection is the treatment." Science can guide us, but relationships are what truly heal.

💬 Key Themes

• What evidence-based care really means in medicine vs. psychology

• The therapeutic alliance as the strongest predictor of healing outcomes

• Why relational safety can't be randomized or quantified

• The emotional aftermath of "successful" medical interventions

• Bridging the gap between surgical recovery and emotional integration

• How research funding, politics, and systems of oppression shape what gets labeled "evidence-based"

• Integrating science and relationship for whole-person healing

🩺 Featured Quote

"Even when data says you're fine, the surgery was perfect, the treatment worked — the heart may still need time to catch up."

🕊️ Takeaway

Evidence-based care gives us structure and safety, but healing happens when we bring our full selves into relationship—when the nervous system learns that safety is possible again. True integration happens not only through survival, but through reconnection with our bodies, our loved ones, and our sense of belonging in the world.

🧠 Resources Mentioned

• American Psychological Association: Definition of Evidence-Based Practice

• "10 Questions to Ask Yourself After a Genetic Mutation Diagnosis" — free download at sarachampieLCSW.com

🌿 Connect with Sara

Follow along on Instagram and TikTok @facetherisktogether Learn more about individual and group support at sarachampieLCSW.com

🔖 Hashtags

#WalkingTheGeneticLine #EvidenceBasedCare #TraumaInformedTherapy #CancerSurvivorship #HereditaryCancer #BRCA #DepthPsychotherapy #WholePersonHealing #TherapeuticAlliance #IntergenerationalHealing #BetweenTheScans

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Guest: Katherine Lewandowski Theme: Choosing care, surviving change, and finding a stronger self after prophylactic surgery

Episode summary When Katherine learned at 43 that she carried BRCA2—shortly after her father's metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis—she moved from shock and shame to decisive action. In this conversation, she shares how grief, meticulous research, and a values-aligned care team led her through prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction and surgical menopause—and why she now feels more like herself: stronger, clearer, and more alive.

We cover

• How her father's illness (and death) shaped her relationship to risk, agency, and end-of-life values

• The early emotional landscape: secrecy, shame, and reframing the diagnosis into a "project" she could act on

• Building the right team: what to look for in surgeons, communication that lowers anxiety, and advocating for humane care

• Fears of post-mastectomy pain syndrome and why she chose DIEP flap (autologous) reconstruction

• Navigating surgical menopause with BRCA2 (and why hormones were a central part of her decision-making)

• Healing as a practice: listening to the body, pacing recovery, and the surprising joy of getting strong again

• Reclaiming the body after surgery: strength training, learning tennis at midlife, and modeling embodied confidence for her daughter

• Living with ongoing risk and the medical "machine" without letting it eclipse quality of life

Highlights & takeaways

• "I wanted to feel like myself after surgery—and I do. But I also feel changed, in ways that are better."

• The relationship with your surgeon matters: expertise and responsiveness can transform recovery.

• Healing well isn't about pushing; it's about listening, pacing, and letting others help.

• It's okay if gratitude isn't instant—grief, fear, and shame can be part of the path to agency.

• You're shopping for a care team. You deserve excellent, human-centered care.

Content note This episode includes discussion of parental death, grief, surgical details, and menopause.

Resources mentioned

• DIEP flap (autologous) breast reconstruction

• Post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS)

• Surgical menopause considerations for BRCA2 carriers

Connect If this episode resonated, please follow, rate, and share. Find Sara on IG/TikTok @FaceTheRiskTogether and get free tools + 1:1/group offerings via the link in bio. You're not alone—we can walk this line together.

Episode Summary In this deeply moving conversation, we meet Lisa, a 50-year-old woman from the UK navigating her BRCA2 genetic mutation. After undergoing an oophorectomy and preparing for a double mastectomy, Lisa shares candidly about her journey through testing, family reactions, and the intimate decisions around reconstruction, femininity, and sexuality.

Together, we explore how genetic testing within the Jewish community intersects with intergenerational trauma, cultural history, and personal agency. Lisa's story highlights the ripple effects of genetic information across families, the surprising variety of responses from loved ones, and the empowerment that can come from moving from helplessness into choice.

Key Takeaways

• How NHS screening in the Jewish community brought Lisa's mutation to light

• The impact of Holocaust history and intergenerational trauma on genetic inheritance

• Different family reactions to testing—ranging from avoidance to pragmatism

• Lisa's perspective on prophylactic surgeries, including her oophorectomy and upcoming mastectomy

• Honest reflections on reconstruction, body image, intimacy, and navigating choices with her partner

• The role of agency and information in transforming fear into proactive health decisions

About the Guest Lisa is based in the UK and carries the BRCA2 mutation. She has already undergone an oophorectomy and is planning a double mastectomy later this year. Her openness in discussing cultural history, family dynamics, and the very personal aspects of surgery offers a rare and valuable perspective for anyone facing hereditary cancer risk.

Resources & Links

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study Overview

• Jewish Chronicle (UK) coverage on BRCA testing

Connect with Us

• Subscribe to Walking the Genetic Line wherever you listen to podcasts

• Follow on Instagram: @facetherisktogether

• Visit: FaceTheRiskTogether.com

• Download the free resource: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself After a Genetic Mutation Diagnosis