personal essay for People<\/a> published on Friday. <\/p>\n\u201cLike many women, I have always had a love-hate relationship with my body. Long before it gave me my two beautiful children, I was a bikini model in magazines like\u00a0Maxim, and, early in my acting career, I spent many years playing roles that were hyper-focused on how I looked,\u201d Lowe began. \u201cAnd I felt that pressure, constantly checking my body, adjusting, second-guessing whether I was \u2018enough.\u2019 It was a quiet battle, fought daily.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe shares an update on her health with followers on Instagram. Instagram\/@officialcrystallowe<\/p>\n
The director, who shares a daughter, 9, and a son, 3, with husband, Miko Tomasevich, added that once she joined Hallmark\u2019s\u00a0\u201cSigned, Sealed, Delivered\u201d movie series as Rita Haywith, things changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time I was being seen for my craft. But, if I\u2019m being honest, the mirror still calls me sometimes. I still check in. I still look. Only this last time, it wasn\u2019t about my insecurity. It was about something much more important: my health,\u201d Lowe continued. <\/p>\n
In February, the \u201cL Word\u201d alum found \u201ca large mass in my right breast.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIn that moment, everything else fell away. At first, I thought I had sprained a muscle while working out. To be safe, I immediately went to my doctor who ordered a mammogram and guided ultrasound, but found nothing,\u201d Lowe recalled. \u201c\u2018The breast is just one of those things,\u2019 they said casually. \u2018It\u2019s a mystery\u2026’\u201d<\/p>\n
Months later, the mass was still there but changing in both \u201csize and placement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe urges followers to get their mammograms. Instagram\/@officialcrystallowe<\/p>\n
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe speaks during the Getting to Yes: Empowering Women to Advance in Entertainment panel. Getty Images<\/p>\n
After going back to her doctor, he rushed a biopsy and said: \u201c\u2018Honey, I can\u2019t be sure, but this feels like cancer.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowe explained, \u201cI just stared at him, blinking as if I hadn\u2019t heard him correctly. \u2018I don\u2019t have cancer,\u2019 I thought. That\u2019s crazy. But deep down, something inside me whispered, \u2018What if?’\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThree days later, my G.P. called to say I had invasive carcinoma in one of the ducts. I still remember getting off the phone, curling up into a ball, and just bawling,\u201d recounted the Hallmark star, before praising her husband for allowing her to process the news in her own time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, I\u2019m looking at the whole deal: chemo, double mastectomy, radiation and, eventually, implants\u2026 As someone who\u2019s never had any major illness, it was a lot to digest,\u201d admitted Lowe. \u201cAnnie [Howell] and the entire Hallmark family embraced me fully, and told me that they had my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before starting chemotherapy, the mom of two found a way to turn the narrative around. <\/p>\n
Crystal Lowe arrives at the premiere of New Line\u2019s \u201cFinal Destination 3\u201d at the Chinese Theater on Feb. 1, 2006. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to look at my chemo as a warrior. I named her the most Scottish name I could think of, Agnes McDonald. Agnes would be my fierce warrior who would battle \u2018Barry,\u2019 the nickname I\u2019d given to my cancer,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked my husband to pull up an image of a Scottish warrior with fiery red hair and a massive sword. He complied. Once I had that image in my mind, I put on the\u00a0\u2018Braveheart\u2019 soundtrack (yes, I\u2019m dramatic), and for the first time since my diagnosis, I felt strong. I (and Agnes) was ready for battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concluding her touching essay, Lowe shared what she\u2019s learned along the way. <\/p>\n
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe in \u201cSigned, Sealed, Delivered.\u201d \u00a9Hallmark Entertainment\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have one message for all of you, I guess it would be this: This journey has been scary, strange, and humbling. It has stripped me down in ways I never saw coming, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And yet\u2026 I promise to persevere,\u201d she expressed. \u201cTo turn poison into medicine.\u00a0To grow. That\u2019s what I\u2019m learning every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowe also took to instagram to encourage other women<\/a> to get their mammograms and get checked. <\/p>\nFellow Hallmark stars flocked to the comments section to share their support for the \u201cFinal Destination\u201d vet.<\/p>\n
\u201cSending you all the love and prayers and we are here for you,\u201d Nikki DeLoach wrote. \u201cYou are a force. The fact that you trying to help others while you are going through this yourself speaks to your heart and your strength.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe on set. Instagram\/@officialcrystallowe<\/p>\n
Janel Parrish chimed in, \u201cYou\u2019re amazing \ud83e\udd0d\ud83e\udd0d\ud83e\udd0d,\u201d while Lacey Chabert added, \u201cI will be praying for you and holding you close in my heart\u2764\ufe0f.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rounding out their heartfelt messages, Tamera Mowry simply penned, \u201cWe love you Crystal \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd\u2764\ufe0f.\u201d<\/p>\n
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