Message from Johnathon Schaech

I recently had a chance to visit Christina.
She's recovering incredibly well.
She was full of positivity and enthusiasm for the future.
I can tell everyone that she is a fighter and one of the strongest people I've ever met.
I watched her dance on a broken foot for the opening of Sweet Charity when the doctors said she couldn't.
She proved it then and she'll prove it again.
I know in my heart that she will help save many lives by getting women to test earlier then they would have before.
I've received so many letters and emails from people who wanted to reach out to her.
Please feel free to post here and I will make sure she sees the tribute to her incredible spirit.
She's my hero again. She's a survivor.
I've lost my grandfather and my Aunt Pat to cancer.
With each new victory we get closer to winning the war.
God bless her and everyone else who's struggling with this disease. 
I have hope for a cure.
Johnathon

(Please send all messages to fanmail@johnathonschaech.net and I will post them here for Christina to read)

Dear Christina,
Thank you so much for sharing your diagnosis and genetic status with all of us.  As a woman who was also diagnosed with breast cancer and tested positive for a mutation to my BRCA I gene, I know, and sympathize, with the decisions you had to make.  Although others in my family were diagnosed before me (some are deceased), I was the first to test.  The BRCA ball began to roll, and to date, I have 17 family members involved – 14 of which are positive for the mutation.  Like you, once I read that I had an 87% risk of breast cancer and 44% for ovarian, and I was done with chemo, having a doctor tell me that my risk of recurrence was more than 40% made the decision of mastectomies a bit easier to make.  There is one organization out there for people at high risk and those with BRCA mutations – it’s called FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer, Empowered) and their website is www.facingourrisk.org.  It is a fantastic resource for information, and their conferences are one-of-a-kind.  It’s extremely validating to be at these conferences because everyone there is so supportive.  Last year, Jessica Queller spoke (the author of “Pretty is What Changes”).  Also, FORCE always has Kathy Steligo speak at the conference, who I feel has written the best book on reconstruction for patients to read – it’s called “The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook.”  Another fantastic resource for people who test positive for a BRCA mutation is a documentary produced by a young woman named Joanna Rudnick, with Kartemquin Films in Chicago.  She is Jewish (1 in 4 Jewish people carry this mutation) and BRCA positive, with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer.  The film is powerful and moving in many ways.  It has been screened around the country and at various medical facilities such as the National Institutes of Health.  You can purchase it on-line at http://inthefamily.kartemquin.com/filmakers.  Once I saw this film and became a part of FORCE, I would do anything to get this message out there to young women so that those with family histories will share that information with their physicians; and if necessary, they will be referred to a genetic counselor. 

If you ever thought you would be able to speak at a FORCE conference, that would be fantastic for all of us who attend each year.  You can contact the Director and Founder about FORCE or anything relating to BRCA mutations by e-mail at suefriedman@facingourrisk.org.  Should you want to contact me, Sue Friedman can provide my e-mail address to you. 

You’re a brave woman and you’re doing a great service to the community.  Coming forward with your diagnosis and BRCA results have given a “voice” to this very important topic that very few people know about, and helped those of us with FORCE do outreach in our community.  I appreciate it tremendously – you are beautiful both inside and out.