Hallmark star says Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis has spiritually 'stripped' her down

Crystal Lowe, best known for her role in Hallmark's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" movie series, has been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. 

In a personal essay written for People magazine, the 44-year-old actor and director opened up about the harrowing moment she learned about her diagnosis, explained how the cancer has spiritually and physically "stripped" her down and detailed how she has mustered the strength to courageously fight her hardest battle to date. 

"Like many women, I have always had a love-hate relationship with my body," she wrote. "Long before it gave me my two beautiful children, I was a bikini model in magazines like Maxim, and, early in my acting career, I spent many years playing roles that were hyper-focused on how I looked. And I felt that pressure, constantly checking my body, adjusting, second-guessing whether I was 'enough'. It was a quiet battle, fought daily."

"Things began to shift when I landed the role of Rita Haywith on 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' for the Hallmark Channel," she continued. "For the first time I was being seen for my craft. But, if I'm being honest, the mirror still calls me sometimes. I still check in. I still look. Only this last time, it wasn't about my insecurity. It was about something much more important: my health."

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In February 2025, Lowe noticed a large mass in her right breast. After initially being dismissed by a doctor, Lowe's mass had grown in size within a couple months. 

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"The mass measured 10 centimeters," she recalled. "This time, my doctor wasn't so casual; I was rushed for a blind biopsy. After what felt like an eternity, the doctor gently placed his hand on my arm and said, 'Honey, I can't be sure, but this feels like cancer.'"

"I just stared at him, blinking as if I hadn't heard him correctly. 'I don't have cancer,' I thought. 'That's crazy.' But deep down, something inside me whispered, 'What if?' Three 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."

Lowe said she learned she had Stage 3 invasive Ductal Carcinoma in late August. 

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"Essentially, I'm looking at the whole deal: chemo, double mastectomy, radiation and, eventually, implants... As someone who's never had any major illness, it was a lot to digest," she wrote. 

The "Final Destination 3" actress said she had a week to mentally prepare for her first round of chemotherapy.

"I tried so hard to push the nerves away as I walked through the door, but as I sat in the waiting room, I remember tucking my knees up under my oversized sweater, wanting so desperately to disappear," she recalled. "The fear was indescribable."

Lowe shifted her mindset. 

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"First, shrink the tumor as much as we can, in order to give the surgeon the best chance of getting it all out," she wrote. "Second, see a naturopath who works with oncologists to suggest the best foods to put in my body that will help with recovery. And third, recognize that a positive mental state is KEY to the healing process."

As she continues her treatments, Lowe said the whole process has been difficult, yet humbling. 

"If I have one message for all of you, I guess it would be this: This journey has been scary, strange, and humbling," she wrote. "It has stripped me down in ways I never saw coming, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And yet... I promise to persevere. To turn poison into medicine. To grow. That's what I'm learning every single day."

"If you're walking a hard road too, just know, you're not alone," she added.  "We may not get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose how we meet it. And I'm meeting it - with my sword raised, my heart open, and taking it one step at a time."