For years, Kate Crawford lived three months at a time.
It was the only choice she had after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer three days before she turned 29.
After a daylong pity party, the mother of three said, she made a decision.
“OK, we’re going to fight. I’m going to fight with everything that I have, every ounce of me, I’m going to fight to live,” she said. “If there was a 1% chance of something working for me, I was going to try it, medically.”
So far, it’s worked.
Told in January 2013 she had 18 to 24 months to live, the Rostraver woman has managed her stage 4 HER2-positive breast cancer for almost 13 years.
In August, she completed her 200th chemotherapy treatment, a milestone celebrated at Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute and at home with family.
Her experience is unusual, but it’s becoming more of the norm for people with that type of cancer because of advances in treatments, said AHN hematology oncology Dr. Diane Buchbarker.
“Everyone still thinks cancer is a death sentence,” she said. “Most cancers are treatable.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women in the United States. About 20% of patients, or about 300,000 women and men in 2023, are diagnosed with the aggressive HER2-positive subtype, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Survival rates have improved because of the rise in targeted therapy drugs, one of which Crawford receives every three months.
She’s become an inspiration to others by sharing her story on social media and advocating for more funding for breast cancer research.
Her strength was born out of challenges earlier in her 20s, long before Crawford, now 41, knew she had genetic conditions that increased her risk of developing any type of cancer.
Heartache to joy
Her newborn daughter, Shannon, lived for just three days in 2007. She had a heart defect and a hole in her diaphragm, leaving parents Kate and Steve Crawford devastated.
Later that year, there was a miscarriage.
In 2008, they became the parents of twins, Lily and Grace. Stephen was born the following year.
“We kind of quickly went from all of this loss and heartache to sort of being overjoyed,” Crawford said.
But her health seemed to be deteriorating, something she initially chalked up to her final pregnancy, which had complications and required bed rest.
Things started getting really bad in 2012. After a friend was diagnosed at age 40 with breast cancer, Crawford was urged to check her own breasts, only to find something seemed off.
The bad news came in January 2013: There was cancer throughout her body, both breasts and her liver, spine, pelvis, right shoulder and right ribs.
“I knew what that had meant because I had done all the research, and I knew that that was a death sentence,” she said.
After trying for so long to become a mother, it was like a double kick in the gut.
Crawford started weekly chemotherapy sessions and a “Mommy Bucket List” to make sure they got certain experiences as a family.
The parents focused on achievements like getting the kids into kindergarten and teaching them how to ride a bicycle. Everything was cause for a celebration, and nothing was taken for granted.
“Sometimes the smaller ones are the bigger ones,” Steve Crawford said.
Four months after the diagnosis, fretting that she would never get to see the kids go to a prom, Kate Crawford watched as they were crowned prom prince and princesses at Belle Vernon Area High School’s grand march. Lily and Grace were 4 and Stephen a year younger.
Even though Crawford was determined to be a superhero for the children, there were times the cancer made it impossible. Staff at Rostraver Elementary jumped in when necessary, she said.
“The teachers were supplemental parents. I never could’ve gotten through without them being there,” she said. “Every single teacher just made sure that my kids experienced things, and they made it a big deal for me.”
That support has continued throughout their schooling, as the girls are starting their final year of high school and Stephen is a sophomore.
They all went to the prom together last year.
“It was such a full circle moment that I never thought I would see, ever,” Crawford said.
Finding stability
Her ability to see it has been made possible by a mixture of drugs, surgeries, chemotherapy and sheer will.
Crawford gets chemotherapy and a shot of Herceptin every three weeks. Herceptin, introduced in 1998, stops HER2-positive cancer cells from growing, according to Genentech, maker of the drug.
In the years and decades that followed, more drugs were developed to target that specific type of cancer, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Crawford now has options thanks to medical advances and could have a normal lifespan, Buchbarker said, when women diagnosed decades ago didn’t.
“Research is the lifesaver,” Buchbarker said.
In 2020, Crawford’s cancer-related health problems started to slow down, giving her hope that life could be lived a year at a time rather than every three months.
“Everything is stable and not active,” she said.
But the pain is a daily reminder, as are the side effects from her medications.
The past 12 years have been full of uncertainty, Steve Crawford said, and learning how to live differently. A phone call or doctor’s note could upend everything.
“In turn, it’s a huge blessing to have to live like this,” he said.
Kate Crawford has the CHEK2 gene mutation and Li-Fraumeni syndrome, both of which make a person more susceptible to developing cancer.
She’s dived into advocacy, helping others with cancer in any way she can.
“The longer I’m alive, the more drugs we fund, the longer I can stay alive,” she said. “I owe that to not only my family, but all of my friends that have passed away. I owe it to them to fight for change and more funds.”
In fashion spotlight
There will be a major spotlight on her this month as she plans to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week with AnaOno, an intimates brand that makes bras for breast cancer patients and survivors.
She’s looking forward to showing the audience what cancer looks like, scars and all.
“I’m also just excited to showcase, too, that … you can be a 41-year-old mother of twins with no breasts … and still be beautiful,” she said. “I want my daughters to be able to see that.”
It’s something she shares on social media — the raw, real and sometimes grief-riddled and dark-humored journey of being a person with cancer. Crawford’s advocacy has gotten her opportunities to speak locally and make plenty of friends to provide support.
“She continues to amaze me every day,” Crawford’s husband said. “She’s probably one of the strongest people I’ve met in my life.”
Getting to 2025 together is something the couple didn’t think would happen after those fateful days in 2013.
Cancer treatments will continue indefinitely, but they have a constant hopeful eye on the future — graduation for the kids, college visits and wherever life goes.
“Thankfully now, I’ve been in a position where we can make longer plans,” she said. “I’m already planning for a graduation party even though it’s not until next year. “I feel very proud that I’m able to make those plans.”
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
