PODCAST · health
Walking the Genetic Line
by Sara Champie
Conversations about navigating hereditary cancer risk. Join us to talk about life between the scans, and how finding out you have a genetic mutation can be a portal to emotional, relational and intergenerational healing.
Episodes
-
Randi Eichenbaum: BRCA2, Access to Care, and the birth of MOTA
Episode summary Randi Eichenbaum was 19 when her mother died of ovarian cancer. Somewhere in those years she absorbed a quiet belief: this is going to happen to me too. Years later, a new OB-GYN recommended genetic testing based on her family history. The BRCA2 result came by phone from a...
-
Jaclyn Carnevale: From Cancer Diagnosis to Embryos Without the Mutation, A BRIP1 Previvor's IVF Journey
Episode summary In May 2022, at 30 years old, Jaclyn found a lump in her breast. Her doctor, seeing no family history and a young, healthy patient, suggested she wait a week and see if it was still there. Jaclyn didn't take no for an answer — she asked for a mammogram, and within a single day...
-
Kathy Baker: Founding My Faulty Gene & Surviving Hereditary Cancer
EPISODE SUMMARY Kathy Baker grew up in a family that, as she puts it, "looked like a poster for a BRCA mutation" — a sister diagnosed with breast cancer at 31, a mother with three primary cancers, a grandfather lost to aggressive prostate cancer, a great-grandmother lost to pancreatic cancer. And...
-
Elana Silber: The Chain You Inherit
EPISODE SUMMARY Sharsheret is the Hebrew word for chain. Not a ribbon, not a fight, not a cure — a chain. Twenty-five years in, that name turns out to be the most precise available description of the work: over 40,000 people who have shared their experience, peer matches made not by mutation…
more -
Holly Taylor: Hard-Earned Wisdom
Episode Summary A visible tumor changed two lives at once. When Holly Taylor's sister was diagnosed at 45 with simultaneous stage 3 ovarian and breast cancer — tumors large enough to see with the naked eye, discovered only after years of avoiding care without health insurance — genetic testing...
-
Marleah Dean Kruzel: You Make the Best Decision You Can — A Researcher's Honest Take on BRCA and Uncertainty
Guest: Marleah Dean Kruzel, PhD Theme: Uncertainty as a Lifetime Companion, Not a Problem to Solve Episode Summary Marleah Dean Kruzel was 8 years old when her mother found a lump. What followed were years of surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and a childhood lived largely in hospitals —...
-
Natalie Samson Hart: How Integrative Genetic Counseling Changes What Comes Next
Guest: Natalie Samson Hart, MS, CGC, INHC Theme: Genetic Counseling as a Gateway to Whole-Person Care Episode Summary Natalie Samson Hart didn't come to oncology genetic counseling through a tidy career trajectory. She came through loss, confusion, and proximity to illness — a brother whose...
-
Krista Brown: ATM Mutation, Delayed Diagnosis, and What Self-Advocacy Actually Costs
Guest: Krista (Oncology Nurse Navigator) Theme: Self-Advocacy, ATM Mutation, Cancer After Previvorhood EPISODE SUMMARY When Krista's mother was 48, she became the first known cancer diagnosis in their family. She tested negative for BRCA mutations and felt relief — relief that she wouldn't pass...
-
Ali Hall: Prophylactic Mastectomy, Queer Identity, and Claiming Your Body on Your Own Terms
_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Guest: Ali Hall Theme: Queer Identity, Bodily Autonomy, and the BRCA Diagnosis Nobody Saw Coming _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Episode Summary _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> When Ali Hall stole a 23andMe kit from a family white elephant exchange, she wasn't looking for anything...
-
Jennifer Mercer: Lynch Syndrome Awareness and the Weight of a Father's Legacy
Episode Summary Jennifer never knew her biological father growing up — and when she finally let him back into her life at 25, what he brought with him was a medical history that would change everything. Phone call after phone call, a new cancer. Eight-plus organ cancers. Over a hundred skin...
-
Solo Episode: Living with Hereditary Cancer and Risk in a Loud World
Host: Sara Champie, LCSW Theme: Navigating medical vulnerability, global instability, and nervous system overwhelm during hereditary cancer risk and treatment. Episode summary What happens when your body is healing, your life is medically uncertain, and the world around you feels like it's...
-
Katie McMurray: The Emotional Impact of Grief, Sisterhood, and Preventative Surgery
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...
-
Ingrid Nishimoto, LCSW: Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome and Intergenerational Emotional Inheritance
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…
more -
Sara Kavanaugh: From Health Anxiety to Empowerment—Transforming Hereditary Cancer Risk into Healing
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...
-
Sara Kourouma: From Childhood Loss to Empowerment, Creating Community for BRCA Carriers
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…
more -
Beth Martinetti: Family, Fertility, and Identity after Hereditary Cancer Diagnosis
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...
-
Dr. Corinne Menn: The Truth About Hormone Replacement for BRCA Carriers and Previvers
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...
-
Martha Kaiser: From Melanoma Diagnosis to Genetic Discovery – A Journey of Agency and Ancestry
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…
more -
Solo Episode: What "Evidence-Based Care" Really Means: Bridging Science, Trauma, and Healing Hereditary Cancer
🧬 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:...
-
Katherine Lewandowski: Reclaiming Self After Preventative Surgery
*]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "2df67bfd-f152-47a5-87f0-1bfed50a1ee1" data-testid=...
-
Lisa Sharpstone: Choosing on Her Own Terms
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…
more -
Solo Episode: Internal Security Vs. External Safety
Episode Summary: In this solo episode of Walking the Genetic Line, therapist and host Sara Champie invites listeners to explore a subtle but powerful distinction: the difference between external safety and internal security. Through a trauma-informed lens, Sara reflects on how our nervous systems...
-
Dr. LaDeana Jeane: Integrative Oncology and the Personal Side of Hereditary Cancer Risk
Episode Summary In this powerful conversation, Dr. LaDeana Jeane—naturopathic doctor and integrative oncology specialist—shares her expertise and personal story. LaDeana blends medical training with lived experience, offering a unique perspective on how hereditary cancer risk intersects with...
-
Bonus Episode: Fear and HRT
Episode Summary: In this solo episode, I explore one of the most debated areas of care for BRCA mutation carriers: hormone replacement therapy (HRT). While evidence—including the 2016 North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Practice Pearl—supports the use of systemic HRT for many BRCA carriers...
-
Danielle Service: The Patriarchy Wants My T*ts
This podcast, Walking the Genetic Line, was made to create a container in which there are no right or wrongs about how to relate with genetic testing results. This space was made to explore how we are impacted hereditary cancer, what influences our experience, what we wrestle with— and FEEL—about...
-
Ananda Millard: in Every Moment We Have a Choice
Guest: Ananda Millard Theme: Agency, humor, and identity after breast cancer and BRCA2 diagnosis Episode summary After a sudden breast cancer diagnosis at age 50—and learning she carries the BRCA2 mutation—Ananda Millard found herself unexpectedly navigating complex medical and emotional terrain....
-
Violet Page: The Privilege of Knowing
Episode Summary At just 19, Violet Page tested positive for a BRCA1 mutation after witnessing breast cancer run through generations of her family. Having lived with her aunt during her treatment and eventual passing, Violet faced her own genetic risk with clarity, courage, and deep grief. In this...
-
Marisa Kimmel (Part One): Claiming My Genes
Episode Summary At just 25, Marisa Kimmel learned she carried a BRCA mutation that put her at dramatically increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer. With a newborn baby at home, she chose a preventative double mastectomy with flat closure, documenting her journey online and building a vibrant...
-
Episode One: My Story
Episode Summary In this opening episode, host Sara Champie, LCSW shares the deeply personal story behind Walking the Genetic Line. From losing her mother to ovarian cancer at age 10, to receiving her own BRCA1 diagnosis at 30, Sara reflects on how genetic testing shapes not only medical decisions...
-
TRAILER: Welcome to Walking the Genetic Line
Welcome to Walking the Genetic Line, a podcast about the emotional, relational, and deeply human side of living with hereditary cancer risk. I'm Sara Champie, a therapist, coach, and BRCA1 carrier. I am a fellow traveler in this space, a space that's usually defined by the medical community,...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Conversations about navigating hereditary cancer risk. Join us to talk about life between the scans, and how finding out you have a genetic mutation can be a portal to emotional, relational and intergenerational healing.
HOSTED BY
Sara Champie
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Walking the Genetic Line have?
Walking the Genetic Line currently has 30 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Walking the Genetic Line about?
Conversations about navigating hereditary cancer risk. Join us to talk about life between the scans, and how finding out you have a genetic mutation can be a portal to emotional, relational and intergenerational healing.
How often does Walking the Genetic Line release new episodes?
Walking the Genetic Line has 30 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Walking the Genetic Line?
You can listen to Walking the Genetic Line on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Walking the Genetic Line?
Walking the Genetic Line is created and hosted by Sara Champie.
URL copied to clipboard!