Katie Thurston shared a devastating new update on her battle with breast cancer.
Just one week after her wedding to Jeff Arcuri, the Bachelorette star, 34, revealed that the cancer has now spread to her liver, putting her at stage four.
‘After days of waiting, unfortunately, I did find out today that my breast cancer has spread to the liver,’ she shared with fans in an Instagram video on Friday.
‘It is fairly small, however it does put me at stage four,’ she added.
The reality star revealed she will begin her new treatment plan, which includes chemotherapy, next Friday.
Despite the scary health diagnosis, Katie shared that she is ‘optimistic’ as the cancer was caught early on.
Katie Thurston, 34, shared a devastating new update on her battle with breast cancer, revealing that it has now spread to her liver
She shared that the cancer has metastasized, putting her from stage 3 into stage 4
It comes just a week after her whirlwind wedding to comedian Jeff Arcuri (pictured December 1)
‘I know stage four can sound very scary, and it can be,’ she said. ‘However, given that I am triple positive and the spots on my liver are fairly small and detected early, I feel very optimistic on my outcome.’
She also expressed feeling ‘very confident’ with her doctors and medical team.
In her caption, she wrote, ’43 days since diagnosis and still no treatment? There is a lot of testing and prep that goes into cancer treatment. One important test is checking to see if the cancer has metastasized (spread). Unfortunately for me, mine has and I am now #stage4breastcancer . I’ll finally start my treatment next week.’
Katie also answered some questions from fans on her Stories. When asked ‘how scared are you?’ she answered: ‘Scared: 0, Sad: 7, Pain: 5, Tired: 10, Ready: 100.’
One fan asked Katie whether she needs to have a mastectomy.
‘That’ll be a choice down the road,’ she wrote, adding, ‘Given my circumstances I’ll probably opt for a double mastectomy with breast reconstruction which is covered by insurance. Some options are implants or DIEP Flap (which uses my own fat).
Katie also shared two photos of herself in a hospital bed. One featured a lengthy caption.
‘Today I would have finally started treatment. But instead I have an appointment to discuss the suspicious spot found on my liver during my PET scan. And after that meeting, while still digesting the information, I’m heading to CNN for another interview. Why? Because this needs to be talked about more.’
‘Whatever is happening amongst younger women is scary. It’s not normal. And current medical standards haven’t shifted when it comes to mammogram schedules, leaving women to find out later about their diagnosis,’ she went on.
‘Last summer when I first felt that lump, I would have been more proactive had I known there was a rise in young breast patients happening. Shout about it to your sister, your friend, your co-worker, your significant other.’
‘After days of waiting, unfortunately, I did find out today that my breast cancer has spread to the liver,’ she shared with fans in an Instagram video on Friday
‘It is fairly small, however it does put me at stage four,’ she added. The reality star, who also shared two photos from a hospital bed, revealed she will begin her new treatment plan, which includes chemotherapy, next Friday
Despite the scary health diagnosis, Katie shared that she is ‘optimistic’ as the cancer was caught early on
Earlier in the day she shared another hospital photo with a lengthy caption, writing, ‘Whatever is happening amongst younger women is scary. It’s not normal’
Another fan asked, ‘What is the treatment plan for your liver?’
Katie replied: ‘The plan is essentially the same as my breast cancer. The cancer that is within the liver is from the breast cancer spreading vs a new type of cancer. So in basic terms, my breast cancer is the root and will be the focus. Six rounds of chemotherapy to start.’
Someone else asked her about the first thing she’ll do after she rings ‘the bell’ – a symbolic and celebratory tradition that marks the completion of a phase of treatment, most commonly chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
‘Jeff and I are re-doing our trip to Maui and to the fullest. We were in Maui when I got the call and it really stole the trip from us,’ she replied.
Another person asked, ‘Who will go to appointments with you when hubby is back on tour?’
‘My treatment is spaced out as six treatments to start, three weeks apart. A treatment is essentially a dedicated day to travel/infusions/recovery. He will probably miss the first three but the good news is, if I’m up for it, I can still travel to where he is as early as the next day.
Katie also answered some questions from fans on her Stories. When asked ‘how scared are you?’ she answered: ‘Scared: 0, Sad: 7, Pain: 5, Tired: 10, Ready: 100’
Katie shared that she’ll ‘probably opt for a double mastectomy with breast reconstruction’ down the road
Speaking about the next treatment steps, she wrote: ‘The cancer that is within the liver is from the breast cancer spreading vs a new type of cancer. So in basic terms, my breast cancer is the root and will be the focus. Six rounds of chemotherapy to start’
After completing treatment, Katie and Jeff plan to return to Maui
She revealed that Jeff will probably miss her first three treatments due to work
A few days prior Katie told fans that her doctor discovered spots on her liver, which could be a sign of metastatic disease that would push her into stage 4.
Katie had no family history of cancer when she was diagnosed on February 13 after discovering a painful lump in her breast, and she was originally scheduled to begin the I-Spy breast cancer trial this Friday.
‘My [liver] biopsy is scheduled Friday which would have been my treatment day,’ Thurston wrote in her members-only Boobie Broadcast channel on Monday.
‘We now wait. She seemed to be leaning more on the cancer in the liver vs. optimistic. This would put me at stage 4. I’d love to hear from my sisters who are stage 4 in terms of quality of life, motherhood, etc.’
The standup comedian’s I-Spy breast cancer trial was set to include a Zoladex injection to reduce the size of tumors, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and surgery but everything is on hold until the results of her biopsy.
Life is happening at warp speed for Katie and the 36-year-old standup comedian, who connected via Instagram a year ago, got engaged five months later, and tied the knot last Saturday during an intimate backyard ceremony with their parents.
Thurston and Arcuri have also adopted rescue dog Charlie from Best Friends New York and did a round of IVF at fertility center RMA of New York so they can eventually start a family.
‘We dedicated two weeks before doing anything else breast cancer wise to doing IVF,’ the Washington State native told Us Weekly on Sunday.
‘A lot of women don’t even realize that you can take 10 days to dedicate time to your reproductive health and your future family plans. We were able to retrieve 17 eggs and of those 17, six became embryos.’
Katie noted: ‘He’s been to every single appointment with me so far. He’s done every single shot that’s involved with IVF.’
Thurston gushed about how Jeff is ‘great at matching my energy’ and keep things light and playful when she needs it.
Katie had no family history of cancer when she was diagnosed on February 13 after discovering a painful lump in her breast, and she was originally scheduled to begin the I-Spy breast cancer trial this Friday (pictured March 18)
Thurston wrote in her members-only Boobie Broadcast channel on Monday: ‘My [liver] biopsy is scheduled Friday which would have been my treatment day. We now wait. She seemed to be leaning more on the cancer in the liver vs. optimistic. This would put me at stage 4’
The standup comedian’s I-Spy breast cancer trial was set to include a Zoladex injection to reduce the size of tumors, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and surgery but everything is on hold until the results of her biopsy
Life is happening at warp speed for Katie and the 36-year-old standup comedian, who connected via Instagram a year ago, got engaged five months later, and tied the knot last Saturday during an intimate backyard ceremony with their parents
Thurston and Arcuri have also adopted rescue dog Charlie from Best Friends New York and did a round of IVF at fertility center RMA of New York: ‘We dedicated two weeks before doing anything else breast cancer wise to doing IVF’ (pictured March 11)
The Washington State native told Us Weekly on Sunday: ‘A lot of women don’t even realize that you can take 10 days to dedicate time to your reproductive health and your future family plans. We were able to retrieve 17 eggs and of those 17, six became embryos’
Katie marveled: ‘[Our wedding] was this kind gesture of him saying, truly, in sickness and in health. He is proving that he’s here to stay. He shows up every day and he does it in ways that just continue to surprise’
Thurston was a bank marketing manager when she first competed for the heart of Bachelor #25 Matt James in 2021 before immediately scoring her Bachelorette spin-off where she romanced fiancé Blake Moynes (R) for six months and John Hersey for seven months
‘[Our wedding] was this kind gesture of him saying, truly, in sickness and in health,’ The Bachelor #25 contestant marveled.
‘He is proving that he’s here to stay. He shows up every day and he does it in ways that just continue to surprise.’
Arcuri – who’s next performing April 3 in Tennessee – will be spending most of the year traveling as his tour is booked through October 23.
Katie was a bank marketing manager when she first competed for the heart of Bachelor #25 Matt James in 2021 before immediately scoring her Bachelorette spin-off where she romanced fiancé Blake Moynes for six months and John Hersey for seven months.