Former “Bachelorette” star Katie Thurston is in “survival mode” as she battles Stage 3 breast cancer.
Thurston opened up about her life after being diagnosed with Stage 3 triple-positive ductal carcinoma in February.
“You’re in, like, survival mode,” she said during an appearance on “Good Morning America.” “Like, you don’t have a choice. You show up or you die.
“And I hate to say it that way, but, like, you … just every day you have an appointment. Every day you have to show up. You don’t have a choice.”
Thurston didn’t immediately seek medical care after finding a lump, and her advice to others is “don’t wait.”
“When I felt my lump, it was sore,” she recalled. “And, as women, we’re used to being told, like, ‘Oh, it’s probably your time of the month,’ or ‘Oh, it’s from working out.’ So, I brushed it off for a while and then finally I decided to go to the doctor.”
Thurston’s tumor required chemotherapy first to shrink the size before she can have it removed.
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Finding out about her cancer diagnosis was “like the worst feeling ever felt.”
“Like, you’re just devastated,” she said. “You’re so devastated. It’s so shocking.
“As a 34-year-old woman, it’s just – you’re not prepared.”
Thurston appeared on the 17th season of “The Bachelorette,” where she chose Blake Moynes. He proposed to Thurston, but the engagement was short-lived. The two called it quits in October 2021.
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Thurston has since moved on and became engaged to comedian Jeff Arcuri months before she was diagnosed with cancer.
“And we thought we’d be planning a wedding,” Thurston said. “We thought we’d be trying for a baby. And instead we know that this year is really dedicated to just treatment and getting better.”
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Instead of wedding planning, the two have been preemptively working on family planning.
“We’ve done everything we can to be proactive for our future and our family plans,” the former “Bachelorette” star explained. “But, in the event that IVF didn’t work out, in the event that chemo did impact me in a negative way when it comes to my reproductive health, we’re also OK being a childless couple.”
Before her cancer diagnosis, Thurston and Arcuri planned on eloping. Now, the reality TV star is looking forward to planning a wedding with Arcuri and celebrating the beauty of life.