“The Bachelorette” star Katie Thurston shared an emotional update on her battle with breast cancer in an Instagram post from Friday, March 20, where she explained that she’ll be going offline as she prepares for a double mastectomy.
Thurston explained in a 4-photo carousel how the recovery process from her treatment has taken longer than expected, leaving her to cancel her initial surgery for her double mastectomy.
Katie Thurston’s Liver Complications Stalled Double Mastectomy Surgery
“Taking a break… My cancer treatment consists of a Lupron injection, daily Letrozole pill, and three weeks on Kisqali, one week off for recovery. I am closely monitored to determine dose reductions or extended breaks. In January, I took a one month mediation break to allow my elevated AST and ALT (liver) to recover,” she wrote. “Then went back on, first at 200mg for one cycle, then 400mg for the next. Two weeks into my latest cycle, we retested, and required yet another break for my liver. Unfortunately the recovery is taking longer than hoped.”
The reality TV star went on to explain that nothing will prevent her from having her double mastectomy surgery, which is now scheduled for April 29. She said that removing her tumor as soon as possible is crucial to her longtime recovery.
“My double mastectomy… I have surgery scheduled April 29th for the removal of both my breasts (DMX). This surgery was already rescheduled once and I won’t delay it again. Because of the timing of my medication break and liver recovery and the date of my surgery which also requires pausing Kisqali, I’ll continue to pause treatment for another two months,” she said. “My hormone suppression (lupron/ letrozole) does a lot of the heavy lifting in my cancer treatment and won’t be paused. Removing the tumor will also be beneficial to my fight against cancer.”
Thurston went on to say that she’ll be taking a break from social media to balance her physical and mental health, noting that keeping herself as focused as possible in body and brain will help achieve greater overall health.
“Going offline… I’m going to take a week offline to focus on my health and habits. It’s easy to doom scroll which has an impact on physical health and mental health. Maybe I’ll actually get those 10k steps in. Or those 8 hours of sleep. Maybe l’ll get back to better meal prepping. Or working out,” she wrote. “I’m not trying to be dramatic in announcing my time away. I’m ok. I’m going to be ok. Just need a reset. And in case any of those bot accounts announce l’m 💀 I am not.”
Thurston ended her update with a big bird flip to cancer, writing, “Thank you for your love and support. [Expletive] cancer.”
Katie Thurston’s Breast Cancer Battle
The 35-year-old revealed in February that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she was initially diagnosed with stage 3, Thurston’s team set her up with a different specialist, who found that she was actually stage 4 and that her cancer had metastasized to her liver, People reported.
While Thurston fights to become cancer-free, she has been a strong advocate for women to get screened for breast cancer. In an interview with People, she explained that before her diagnosis, she didn’t realize how common it was for women in their 30s to have breast cancer. Now, she wants every woman to not underestimate the smallest indication of something being off in their physical body.
“I did not realize how common breast cancer is in young women. Had I known, I would definitely have gotten that lump checked out sooner,” she said. “That’s kind of my purpose right now — educating people that cancer’s not something reserved for 40 and above.”
