Hallmark star Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, 44, reveals stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis as she vows to ‘persevere’

Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe is opening up about her current health battle.

The actress, 44, announced her stage three cancer diagnosis in a personal essay for People published on Friday.

“Like 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 Maxim, and, early in my acting career, I spent many years playing roles that were hyper-focused on how I looked,” Lowe began. “And I felt that pressure, constantly checking my body, adjusting, second-guessing whether I was ‘enough.’ It was a quiet battle, fought daily.”

The director, who shares a daughter, 9, and a son, 3, with husband, Miko Tomasevich, added that once she joined Hallmark’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” movie series as Rita Haywith, things changed.

“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,” Lowe continued.

In February, the “L Word” alum found “a large mass in my right breast.”

“In 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,” Lowe recalled. “‘The breast is just one of those things,’ they said casually. ‘It’s a mystery…’”

Months later, the mass was still there but changing in both “size and placement.”

After going back to her doctor, he rushed a biopsy and said: “‘Honey, I can’t be sure, but this feels like cancer.’”

Lowe explained, “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,” recounted the Hallmark star, before praising her husband for allowing her to process the news in her own time.

“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,” admitted Lowe. “Annie [Howell] and the entire Hallmark family embraced me fully, and told me that they had my back.”

Before starting chemotherapy, the mom of two found a way to turn the narrative around.

“I 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 ‘Barry,’ the nickname I’d given to my cancer,” she stated.

“I 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 ‘Braveheart’ soundtrack (yes, I’m dramatic), and for the first time since my diagnosis, I felt strong. I (and Agnes) was ready for battle.”

Concluding her touching essay, Lowe shared what she’s learned along the way.

“If 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… I promise to persevere,” she expressed. “To turn poison into medicine. To grow. That’s what I’m learning every single day.”

Lowe also took to instagram to encourage other women to get their mammograms and get checked.

Fellow Hallmark stars flocked to the comments section to share their support for the “Final Destination” vet.

“Sending you all the love and prayers and we are here for you,” Nikki DeLoach wrote. “You 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.”

Janel Parrish chimed in, “You’re amazing 🤍🤍🤍,” while Lacey Chabert added, “I will be praying for you and holding you close in my heart❤️.”

Rounding out their heartfelt messages, Tamera Mowry simply penned, “We love you Crystal 🙏🏽❤️.”