Crystal B. celebrates her cancer-free anniversary each May by giving back to the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Cranberry Township, Pa. She's brought blankets, crossword puzzle books, tote bags, and other gifts for patients.
It's her way of saying thank you to the chemotherapy center that helped her during her breast cancer journey.
"We became so close with (the staff)," she says. "I spent so much time there, and they were amazing. I’ll never be able to repay them."
Crystal was just 37 years old when she noticed a lump on her breast in October 2020. Her doctor scheduled her for a mammogram and sonogram, which revealed breast cancer.
“I was not expecting to find out that I had cancer that quickly," she says. "So, it immediately went into a very fast pace."
Although she lives in Ohio, Crystal knew she wanted to go to UPMC for treatment.
"I knew (UPMC was) so well-researched and cutting-edge with technology and everything," she says.
She researched oncologists and ultimately landed with Shannon Puhalla, MD, at UPMC Hillman.
"It was the best (doctor) that I could ever, ever, ever be paired up with," Crystal says. "Her personality and just the way that she kind of helped me through everything was just life-changing."
Crystal had stage 2, HER2-positive invasive ductal carcinoma in situ. Her treatment plan called for 17 sessions of chemotherapy, along with surgery and radiation.
She began her chemotherapy treatments two days before Christmas in 2020. After her first six treatments, she underwent surgery in May 2021.
The surgery made her cancer-free, but she finished her treatment with her remaining 11 chemotherapy sessions and radiation. Her chemotherapy port was removed two days before Christmas 2021.
Crystal's son was 7 years old and in first grade when she was diagnosed. She says he took on the role of her protector.
"He protected his mommy," she says. "I feel bad because I feel like he had to grow up a little bit faster than he should, but he was like, ‘Mommy, I’ll get it.’ When I couldn’t lift things after surgery, he was like, ‘I’ll do this, I’ll do that.’
"He became my helper, and he just really took on that protective role. And I just think it made us even closer."
Crystal, who works with students and teaches classes at Youngstown State, also continued working during her treatments. She brought her laptop to treatment and taught classes.
She also jotted down notes from her journey, which she turned into a self-published children's book. Titled Caring Through Cancer: A Story of Love and Strength, the book aims to help parents explain the cancer journey to young children.
Crystal has delivered copies of her book to hospitals, chemotherapy centers, radiation centers, and other cancer treatment centers.
“It’s just been a nice resource to be able to kind of give to people and say, ‘Hey, you're going through this, this is maybe a way that you can kind of take the edge off of kind of telling your child,'" Crystal says.
Crystal says she's an "open book" about her cancer journey. She often talks to others who have been through the experience. She's also a strong advocate for screenings, urging everyone to get their mammograms when they can.
“It's so readily available. It's fast. Just please go," she says. "You never know what could happen. Cancer does not discriminate with age, race, wealth. It will hit anybody at any time in your life, so please be your own advocate and go and get screened.
"I try to really just raise awareness and really just try to remind people how important it is to do that."
