THIS DYNAMIC REAL ESTATE AND LIFESTYLE MOGUL WAS AT THE TOP OF HER GAME WHEN A ROUTINE MAMMOGRAM REVEALED A SHOCKING DIAGNOSIS, BUT WITH A RESILIENT MINDSET AND A TALENTED CARE TEAM AT THE STATE’S LARGEST INTEGRATED HEALTH NETWORK, SHE TACKLED AND BEAT CANCER WITH HER SIGNATURE CHARISMA AND GRACE. NOW, SHE’S ON A MISSION TO HELP HER FELLOW GARDEN STATE SISTERS TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR HEALTH AND FUTURE
BY AMANDA McCOY PHOTOS BY AMESSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Christen Sachs’ phone rang as a car was pulling up to drive her to a real estate conference in Manhattan. It was nearing the end of last year, and Sachs was at a high point in her career. Her business was thriving; as the managing director of Nest Seekers’ booming Rumson office, she had just logged the most successful year of her entire real estate career, and her lifestyle brand was taking off on social media. In her personal life, she was celebrating her daughter’s recent acceptance into NYU, and they had just welcomed a new family member into the fold, an affectionate bulldog named Cash. But on the other end of the line, she was about to learn that her recent biopsy at Hackensack Meridian Health & Wellness Center in Eatontown confirmed a diagnosis of breast cancer.
“It was an absolute shock,” noted Sachs, who underwent the biopsy following a routine mammogram ordered by her OB/ GYN earlier that year. “When I got the call, I was just getting into an Uber on my way to speak to a room of 250 people. I couldn’t react. The only thing I could do in that moment was switch into solution mode and say, ‘Okay. What next?’”
She met with breast surgery specialist Debra Camal, M.D., medical director of breast oncology at Riverview Medical Center, to determine her treatment plan. Fortunately, the tumor was still at an early stage, as it had not yet invaded nearby tissue or spread to outer lymph nodes.
“The initial month or two after a positive diagnosis is often quite intense; there are a lot of phone calls and additional tests,” said Dr. Camal. “We were fortunate that Christen’s case was straightforward from an imaging perspective, but how do you process this news as a healthy, vibrant 43-year-old mom with a busy career? But she was so impressive from the moment I met her. She approached the cancer diagnosis and treatment with the same positive energy that has made her so successful in other aspects of her life. She also has a great crew of supportive friends and family members.”
Because the tumor was caught early, Sachs was a candidate for a lumpectomy, a surgical procedure to remove a small portion (or “lump”) of breast tissue, rather than undergo a full mastectomy. Dr. Camal performed the surgery along with limited lymph node removal at Bayshore Medical Center. After the resected tissue was sent for analysis, Dr. Camal came to her patient with positive news: she would not need chemo therapy.
“When we look at the cell’s characteristics, there is a difference between ‘good’ breast cancer and ‘aggressive’ breast cancer,” explained Dr. Camal. “If a patient has the aggressive cell type, they might need chemotherapy even if the cancer is still in stage one. Christen went in for a mammogram at the right time, and thankfully the cells were in the well-behaved category.”
After surgery, Sachs underwent a four-week course of radiation with radiation oncologist Prashant A. Desai, M.D., at Ocean University Medical Center, located only a few minutes from her home in Point Pleasant. “Because Hackensack Meridian Health is an integrated network, we all collaborate across the entire system of hospitals,” said Dr. Camal. “Radiation is administered daily, so Christen could receive her care close to her home and job.”
“For me, mindset was the most important part of this process,” said Sachs, who went for her 90-day post-radiation checkup in August. “Everyone tells you that, but it truly is. Fear could have consumed my world if I let it, but I wouldn’t allow it to take that power. I needed to stay ultra-positive for my daughter, for my team of agents, and for myself.”
“It really does help a person navigate this journey when they are able to maintain a positive outlook,” said Negin Griffith, M.D., a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon on Sachs’ care team. “I always encourage patients to give themselves a little grace. Christen struck a great balance between giving herself the space to feel the shock of the diagnosis, but she took it on in an empowered way. She’s been in charge throughout this entire journey, not the cancer.”
Breast cancer remains the second most common form of cancer in women (trailing only skin cancer), with one in seven U.S. women developing breast cancer in her lifetime. But there is a bright spot: when detected early, breast cancer is highly treatable, with a five-year survival rate of 99% for stage one (localized) tumors. Sachs credits her dear friend and “guardian angel,” a fellow Nest Seekers agent who tragically passed away from stage four cervical cancer last year, with prompting her to get screened.
“Alicia was truly a beautiful person,” Sachs said poignantly of her friend and colleague. “She was married just two years ago; we were all there to celebrate with her in Mexico. In the office, we were (and still are) going through the process of understanding how this could happen to someone so beautiful and so young. After she passed, I encouraged all the women in my office to get screened. I got my diagnosis only weeks later.”
After surgery and four weeks of daily radiation, Sachs was able to ring the bell on cancer. Her care team will remain with her through the next phase, which includes ongoing yearly mammograms, plus annual MRIs for five years. Today, she’s using her story to empower women in New Jersey and beyond to invest in their health with regular screenings. This October, she’s partnering with Hackensack Meridian Health to host an upscale fundraising dinner to benefit the Pink Fund, a national nonprofit that provides financial support to breast cancer patients currently in active treatment.
“It’s an opportunity for women to come together and help other women,” she said. “Before I became an entrepreneur, I always had corporate health insurance, but in the early days of starting my business, I couldn’t afford my own insurance. I know firsthand what that’s like. There are women who don’t go in for preventative care because of financial constraints, and I want them to know that there are so many resources out there to help them.”
“It’s important for women to know that they have options, and we are here to walk them through this journey and help them get to the other side,” added Dr. Camal. “We have hospital navigators they can call to learn about the different resources available to them. As doctors and health advocates, we want to find cancer early as well and give every woman her best shot at overcoming cancer, as Christen did.”
Hackensack Meridian Health