Katie Thurston is celebrating a win in her mother’s breast cancer battle.
“I pushed and pushed my mom to get an MRI after learning she had dense breasts and was entitled to one,” Thurston, 35, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, June 11. “We were able to find her cancer at stage one. She had a lumpectomy and today was her last day of radiation!! 21 rounds and this tough mama got to ring the bell!”
Thurston continued, “So proud of my mom 💕.”
Thurston announced in January that her mom was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer one year after her own diagnosis. (The former Bachelorette was diagnosed in February 2023 with stage III breast cancer.)
“Life update: my mom has #breastcancer. I flew to Seattle this weekend to be with her at her first appointment,” Thurston wrote via Instagram at the time. “I want to make sure she is getting proper care and information. I hate that we have to be our biggest advocate but also, it’s what will save your life.”
She added at the time, “Dense breasts need more than a mammogram to screen for cancer and yet somehow my mom had never been referred for further imaging. We are getting more answers today but I believe our own advocacy allowed us to catch this early. … If you have family history of breast cancer or dense breasts, please request further imaging such as a breast ultrasound and breast MRI.”
Thurston further noted in her Thursday update that her mom is now “cancer-free.”
Months after the Bachelor Nation alum was diagnosed with breast cancer, the malignant tissue spread to her liver and elevated her status to stage IV.
“My cancer treatment consists of a Lupron injection, daily Letrozole pill and three weeks on Kisqali [and the] one week off for recovery,” Thurston wrote via Instagram in March. “I am closely monitored to determine dose reductions or extended breaks.”
At the time, she revealed her plans to get a double mastectomy in late April.
“I’ll continue to pause treatment for another two months. My hormone suppression [medication] does a lot of the heavy lifting in my concert treatment and won’t be paused,” she explained in a social media statement. “Removing the tumor will also be beneficial to my fight against cancer.”
Thurston’s husband, comedian Jeff Arcuri, confirmed via Instagram on April 29 that “everything went great” with the procedure.
“This beautiful badass just went in for surgery for her double mastectomy,” he wrote via his Instagram Stories earlier that day “She is in amazing hands and spirits are HIGH.”
