The Bachelorette” star Katie Thurston is navigating stage 4 breast cancer, and she opened up about the situation at a breast cancer foundation event.
As she works through her initial treatments for her cancer, Thurston is open with her fans about the ups and downs of this season of her life.
Thurston revealed, “I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt in the last four months.”
Katie Thurston Is Feeling Good These Days
Thurston opened up to People during the May 13 BCRF Hot Pink Party held in New York.
“Menopause is the worst,” she admitted. “The hot flashes will get you; the irritability will get you, but I’m doing the best I can.”
The former “Bachelorette” noted, “You know, I’m newer to it, but there’s a lot of support out there, whether it’s medication, or acupuncture, which is what I’ve been doing.”
She admitted, “It’s interesting to be 34 through and having to think about these symptoms.”
Thurston acknowledged that people sometimes feel “ashamed by or embarrassed by” having breast cancer. However, she emphasized, “The reality is we’re fighting and we’re doing what we need to be doing to fight,” she shared.
“I think there’s a lot of power in sharing our true organic stories with each other to make it less embarrassing or less intimidating and that’s kind of what I’ve been doing with what I call the Boobie Broadcast on my channel, openly and being vulnerable and sharing our experiences.”
As for feeling the best she’s felt over these past few months, Thurston explained, “I think this is the high, high of everything I’ve gone through, so I’m good, the dust has settled. I know what my life’s supposed to look like, I know what my treatment’s going to look like.”
‘The Bachelorette’ Alum Feels Optimistic About What’s Ahead
Thurston also spoke with Extra at the event. She pointed out that as she navigated her initial diagnosis and potential treatment options, she was also moving from California to New York. She also married her now-husband Jeff Arcuri in a low-key wedding. “It’s been a whirlwind,” Thurston admitted.
Those early months also included news that her initial diagnosis was incorrect, and her stage of breast cancer was more serious than initially believed.
“I’m now finally at a point where I have a team of doctors that I trust, a community of people that I’m surrounding myself with and building, and I feel good. All things considered, I feel really good,” Thurston shared.
For now, Thurston is on “The first line of treatment: two daily pills, a monthly shot, and we just essentially do that forever until it doesn’t work, and then you go to the next line of treatment.”
She explained, “In a year, five years from now, if I have to change it, that’s okay. I’m very optimistic in the medical advancements coming up in the next one year, five years.”
Thurston added, “So as much as stage 4 can sound very scary, I feel very at peace with it and ready to just fight.”
