Katie Thurston was recognized with breast most cancers in February 2025 on the age of 34.
“I had a small lump in my breast across the 10’oclock [sic] spot,” the previous Bachelorette wrote by way of her Instagram Tales that very same month. “I found it myself. Thought perhaps it was my interval [or] perhaps it was muscle soreness from figuring out. However, finally, this lump by no means went away.”
Thurston subsequently visited her physician for a mammogram, which indicated the presence of cancerous tissue. She later underwent a biopsy to study extra about the kind of most cancers.
“Excellent news! My most cancers hasn’t metastasize[d],” Thurston shared by way of her Instagram Tales on February 21, 2025, noting the malignant tissue was confined in her lymph nodes. “Two extra appointments left in LA earlier than formally transferring to NYC [on] March 1st. The anticipated order of issues is fertility (egg/embryo freezing), chemo, then surgical procedure.”
Forward of her most cancers therapy, Thurston moved to the Massive Apple along with her now-husband, Jeff Arcuri. (Thurston and the comic bought engaged in late 2024 and married in March 2025.)
“I’m so grateful for my household, mates, and group right here for serving to me make it to my present stage [sic] of thoughts,” she added. “Right now I really feel calm, much less scared, and prepared.”
Maintain scrolling for a full timeline of Thurston’s most cancers battle:
November 2024
Thurston found a lump in her breast in late 2024, noting the next February on her Instagram Tales that the ache continued for “three [or] 4 months.”
“My first lump [which was a benign cyst] felt like a pea or marble [and] exhausting, unnatural, however didn’t trigger me discomfort. The second felt bigger,” she recalled in February 2025. “The ache initially got here and went, however perhaps after 3-4 months of it not going away or enhancing, I bought nervous and noticed my physician.”
Thurston had a breast ultrasound, a mammogram and a number of biopsies, which confirmed the presence of most cancers.
February 2025
Thurston was recognized shortly earlier than Valentine’s Day, revealing the information publicly a number of hours later.
“Yesterday I noticed all of the {couples} put up their Valentine’s Day celebrations. I felt envious if I’m being sincere. Jeff took me to Hawaii and after, we had been going to journey the world earlier than planting roots collectively in NYC lastly,” she wrote by way of Instagram on February 15. “However as a substitute, my Vday was spent coordinating a spot to reside as I’ve to return to LA for extra testing and therapy.”
She added, “I used my morning to determine insurance coverage for NYC and legal guidelines on preexisting circumstances. I scheduled appointments for one more biopsy, fertility, psychological well being, surgical procedure, in addition to assembly with my workforce to debate the general therapy plan, which is able to embrace chemo.”
Former Bachelorette star Katie Thurston has supplied followers an replace on her breast most cancers prognosis. Taking to her Instagram Tales on Tuesday, February 18, Thurston, 34, thanked followers for his or her help whereas offering additional perception into her life since asserting she was battling the illness on Saturday, February 15. “Headed again to LA briefly whereas […]
Thurston had one other biopsy, this time on her lymph nodes, on February 19.
“Completed biopsy. Went significantly better this time,” Thurston wrote by way of her Instagram Tales. “Took lorazepam, defined my final appt struggles and requested for extra numbing, and so they allowed Jeff to be there holding my hand.”
The biopsy indicated that Thurston’s most cancers hadn’t metastasized additional.
March 2025
Firstly of the month, Thurston moved to NYC full-time earlier than she began fertility therapies. The truth star opted to freeze embryos earlier than present process chemotherapy.
“Someday you assume you don’t need youngsters,” she wrote on March 9. “Then at some point you meet the person of your goals and would do something to ensure we are able to begin a household sooner or later.”
All through March, Thurston continued planning her therapy protocol.
“I opted in for the I-Spy breast most cancers trial as a substitute of the usual of care,” she wrote on March 13. “The aim is to match therapies to sufferers used on the molecular and genetic traits of their tumors as a substitute of a ‘one dimension matches all’ route. This all means I’ll have further testing achieved upfront and through.”
That very same day, she had an optometry appointment to “get [her] eyes checked out” to verify if she nonetheless qualifies for the I-Spy scientific trial. Someday later, Thurston underwent an egg retrieval.
Days after Us Weekly completely confirmed that Thurston and Arcuri tied the knot on March 22, they found a number of spots had been discovered on the previous Bachelorette’s liver. Afterward, Thurston underwent biopsies on her breast, lymph nodes and liver to find when to start out her therapy. She additionally had a port positioned.
On March 28, Thurston confirmed that the spots discovered on her liver had been cancerous.
“After days of ready, sadly, I did discover out right this moment that my breast most cancers has unfold to the liver,” she mentioned in an Instagram video. “It’s pretty small, nonetheless it does put me at stage 4.”
Thurston shared that she would begin therapy the next week.
April 2025
As Thurston packed her hospital bag on April 3 to start out chemotherapy the following day, she obtained a name from her medical doctors to pause her plans.
“I bought the decision that my pathology outcomes on my liver, breast and lymph nodes all got here again as HER2 Destructive, although my unique samples as Kaiser had been HER2+,” Thurston wrote by way of Instagram on April 4. “I used to be minutes away from taking my steroid for chemo prep. As a substitute, I’m headed to my physician to debate how this occurred, what testing is required and what this implies for my new therapy plan. Appears like chemo is off the desk now.”
She confirmed on April 10 that her most cancers was HER2-negative. “What this implies isn’t any chemo,” she defined by way of Instagram Story, earlier than breaking down her new therapy plan.
“As a substitute I’ll be on Letrozole + Kisqali + Zoladex as my first line of therapy,” she wrote. “This can be a customized plan based mostly on being [/] having HER2-negative, Luminal B, hormone-positive breast most cancers. Letrozole to dam estrogen, Kisqali to cease most cancers cells from rising, and Zoladex to close down my ovaries.”
Nevertheless, chemo is “not utterly off the desk,” she defined, saying, “If this therapy stops working or if the most cancers grows once more, it’s an possibility we’ll revisit. We are going to intently monitor the therapy plan and ensure it’s working for my physique.”
On April 12, Thurston additional broke down her therapy plan, including that she’ll have “month-to-month” appointments to “monitor my coronary heart and do blood attracts.” She added, “I believe my first scan from now could be in three months.”
June 2025
Thurston shared by way of Instagram on June 1 that she completed her second month of therapy and observed just a few modifications to her physique.
“Proper now, after ending two months of my medicine, my hair is popping out in an unnatural quantity of clumps. Engaged on that,” she mentioned. “I’m dropping my reminiscence. That’s nice. Going via customs and them being like, ‘The place are you coming from?’ And I checked out him and was like, ‘I don’t bear in mind. I don’t bear in mind.’”
Thurston defined that she’s making “massive selections” about tips on how to deal with her liver, whether or not that be radiation, ablation, histotripsy — which she shared is what she’s going to do with NYU. She famous that zoladex didn’t work, main her to get her interval. Thurston defined that she’s switching to lupron, and if that doesn’t work, she claimed her ovaries may must be taken out.
Weeks later, Thurston bought candid about the price of her ongoing therapy. She shared a screenshot of an insurance coverage declare by way of her Instagram Story, which confirmed that her medical doctors had been billed $320,325.57, whereas she paid $22,420.40 out of pocket.
“Thanks to the manufacturers I’ve the chance to work with and the individuals who help me,” Thurston wrote. “Shoutout to the $1300/month I pay to assist with my medical payments that I’ll have the remainder of my life as a stage 4 affected person.”
July 2025
After vacationing in Greece along with her husband, Thurston returned house for her “three month scan verify in.”
“We are going to discover out if the tumors are secure (no progress) and even probably shrinking! So long as my scans are good, I can proceed this therapy plan,” she wrote by way of her Instagram Story on the time. “As a stage 4 girly, I’ll be on a therapy plan for all times, so it’s a win when one thing is working. It’s additionally why funding is so necessary for breast most cancers analysis, as a result of a few of us run out of choices for therapy.”
September 2025
Thurston gave an replace on her plans for therapy. After some scans got here again “just a little regarding,” her physician lowered her medicine dosage from three tablets to 2 a day.
“That has labored for my liver enzymes, which means I don’t have to pause my therapy, I can proceed my therapy,” she mentioned in a July 2025 Instagram video. “The larger take a look at on if that is working nonetheless, is subsequent month I’ll get rescanned to see how a lot the tumor has shrunk.”
If her subsequent spherical of scans comes again good, Thurston will have the ability to endure a double mastectomy in November.
