A Champion for the Cause
Breast cancer survivor Crystal Carroll takes a hopeful approach to most things in life. The published author has implemented various survival techniques and philosophies into her life, emphasizing the importance of accepting things as they come with grace and patience. As a matter of fact, through her volunteer and advocacy work with various organizations, including the Susan G. Komen Miami chapter, the wife and mother of two makes it her mission to encourage others to implement this methodology of taking each day, and even each moment, as they come.
“Live one day at a time!” Carroll exclaims. “Take it all in—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Throughout this journey, I have encountered emotions, ailments, and mental health from one extreme to the other, sometimes within the same day.”
After being diagnosed with stage 2 triple-positive breast cancer, Carroll initiated 16 rounds of chemotherapy as part of her enrollment in the CompassHER2-pCR clinical trial. While Carroll had a complete response to the trial, the Miami-Dade Public School worker says that listening to her body and setting healthy boundaries proved to be a challenging part in her breast cancer journey.
“When you’re an active person who is used to getting up and moving, this experience teaches you to listen to your body,” she explains. “When your body says rest, you rest. When your body says eat, you eat or don’t eat.”
She also stresses the importance of honoring your emotions and surrounding yourself with supportive people during treatment. Furthermore, Carroll’s optimism and zest for life was admired by her doctors, especially one of her oncologists, Dr. Ragisha Gopalakrishnan.
“Crystal has an incredible story and a book about how she navigated treatment,” Gopalakrishnan says. “She is now an inspiration as she champions for other women with breast cancer and a great champion for Mount Sinai as well as the cause.”
Carroll is incredibly grateful to her physicians Drs. Gopalakrishnan, Narayanan, and Jacobs, for their patience and care, but she will never forget the entire Cancer Center staff that aided her every step of the way.
“I would like to thank every person that has spoken to me and greeted me with a smile,” she says. “Starting at the check-in desks to the lab and treatment rooms, to the nurses who escorted me to the exam rooms, helping me schedule my next appointment, drawing my lab work, monitoring my infusions, and even serving me a snack or sandwich during treatment.”
During a time of great uncertainty, Carroll was appreciative of her oncologists’ degree of transparency. She values their years of experience in their field since they were thorough in explaining her diagnosis and devising care plans with treatments that she could understand. As a result, she felt more comfortable asking questions, sharing her side effects, and even expressing her newfound thoughts and feelings regarding her cancer.
“Their continued words of encouragement, allowing me to cry, to be sad, to be happy, to be mad, and to dance to ‘Girl on Fire,’ has helped get me through this long journey,” she adds.
Crystal urges women (particularly Black women) to participate in clinical trials that could further advance research, care, and preventive opportunities for women of color.
“Had the people before me not participated in cancer trials, my care plan may not have been as specific,” she adds. “I hope that the results from my cancer trial will one day help save a life.”