This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast with iHeartRadio everybody.
It's almost Famous podcast.
We're here today with somebody who you've definitely heard of recently, you definitely know of, and we want to do an interview today with Katie Thurston to get her story. And I mean, I think the hope from all of us is to share your story, Katie, not only in support of you, but also to highlight what's going on in your life for anybody listening so they can also be aware. So thanks for joining us.
Thanks for having me you guys, I appreciate it.
Well, we're so sorry to have you here under these circumstances. You know, you recently found out a month ago that you have breast cancer. Can you start kind of at the beginning of your story. I know that a lot of people out there have already heard your timeline, but for those of for those who haven't.
Yeah, So I actually last summer was the first time I felt a lump in my breast, but I had had a benign cyst before that was removed and non cancerous. And I'm only yeah, and I'm only thirty four, so I'm not thinking breast cancer at all. It doesn't run in my family. I am overall pretty healthy. There was never an urgency to get it checked out. And I kind of put it off, thinking maybe it's PMS, maybe
it's from working out, you know, it's the summertime. And then finally in January, you know, I was getting ready to move to New York to be with my fiance Jeff, and was like, well, I should do some kind of like medical checks before we leave, and we're going to be traveling for six weeks. And so I kind of went into the office almost thinking it was going to be like a like a checkup, like a Yep, it's just another benign cyst and you can just move on
with your life. And very very quickly the appointment energy was shifting. I could feel it. No one was saying anything, but you know, you can just feel the vibe of the room change. And I remember first it was a manual feel by doctor, then it was an ultrasound and then can you stay and do a mammogram? And I was like yeah, and I could just I could just feel the way of whatever was happening.
Yeah.
So then at that time they couldn't get me in for a biopsy, but they wanted to, and they're like, look, we're pretty sure it's cancer, but we can't confirm until we do the biopsy at the end of the day. That's that's the only way to confirm. So you know, what do you want to do? And we were literally like a daze away from leaving for so much international travel with Jeff because he was on the road for his shows. And I was like, well, if I was your friend, if I was your daughter, what would you
tell me? And they're like, we would tell you to stay and figure it out. So I get the biopsy on February fifth, and then a day before Valentine's Day they confirmed officially that it was in fact breast cancer.
So I have a fibro atonoma. I had a biopsy. Our producer, who you can't see right now, Jess recently twenty two, also has a fibroe atanoma. Feels like a marble, is very round and it moves. And you had assist, how did what you have now feel different, if it or at all, than what you had previously.
I don't think they felt different, like I thought they were gonna be the same thing. The first one I felt was like a piece size, like you said, marble, just like this little hard spot much smaller that I could just easily feel. I didn't. I wasn't even I wasn't even doing self exams. I just like, am just this sounds crazy, but like I just I just feel what my boobs feel like. I don't know. I love you know, so you notice something is off. And that was the benin sist and it wasn't a big deal.
This other one was a similar spot, maybe closer to like the armpit. So again, like I'm lifting weights, it's summertime. I'm thinking it's like muscle, you know, because it's like same size, maybe like marble, maybe bigger, rubbery or hard. It doesn't feel like fat. Everyone else what you know, you're a boove should feel like overall, and it felt just like different and it wasn't. On the other side. That was the other thing. It is like you start going on both sides and you're like, it's only on
one side. And so after you know, months of it never going away, I was like, Okay, maybe this is something. It was painful, and so the biggest thing that I regret is using Google for medical advice. You know, breast cancer hurt, and Google said generally no, and so I kind of just took that from a phrase value it's.
Sore, they usually say that's a good sign exactly.
So I had this like confirmation bias of like, all right, I guess I'm good, and so I just didn't go in for months, and you know, obviously I have my own regrets with that, But all I can do now is educate other women because had I heard someone my age with their story last summer when I felt the lump, I think I would have been more proactive on getting
it checked. Because the biggest thing I'm learning now is it's actually like an at right now and women in their twenties and thirties and forties who are getting breast cancer, and multiple doctors that I've seen in different departments are like, we don't know what's going on, and it's crazy that only until I was diagnosed am I learning that. But now that I'm like searching for answers, I'm seeing just how many women are being impacted.
Let's this is a weird question for me to ask, but we kind of mentioned it when I think we talked about your story initially when the news came out. But for those out there, that are listening and they you know, they're familiar with breast cancer, but they don't exactly know how to do a self check. That kind of confuses them. Let's maybe try to make it as elementary as possible with the information you now know, Katie, how do you do these kind of checks?
Uh? And then you know once you do do these checks, is any.
Lump, any bump, something that you would now recommend somebody go in for, or or is there things that you'd say, now, don't worry about that.
The only thing any lump you should get checked out the way that I recommend doing a self breast exam, or I mean even just watching a video. There's so much resources and it's so easy you can do in the shower, but typically you'll take two or three fingers and you just kind of like literally just rub over your breast, you know, down like top to bottom diagonally. Is there discharge out of your your nipples? Is there dimpling?
Time out? Timeout? Stop there? Because if there is discharge, what does that mean?
It just means you should ask your doctor, you know, sometimes depending you know, if you're a new mom or again your period. I don't I'm not a professional but you got to be familiar with what's normal for your breasts and if anything feels off, even if it is nothing, I'd rather have the peace of mind hearing from a professional that it's nothing, then do what I did, which was wait several months and find out that it was actually breast cancer.
But you didn't have discharge or dimpling or anything like that, right, No, Mine was.
Just a rubbery, hard, painful lump in the side of my breast in a spot that felt like maybe like a muscle.
So let's talk about how your initial feeling was. They're telling you in your first appointment that they think it would be cancer. You have to wait for the biopsy, and then after the biopsy comes back and they say that it is cancer, then you have to have that weight period when you find out.
What stage it is.
What's your feelings? I mean, besides, I know it sounds obvious, but just kind of describe life for that week or so.
I won't deny that I am. I know right now I seem okay, but I am emotionally not okay, like truly. But in the first I guess the four weeks that I've been pursuing treatment and moving and changing doctors and insurance. You almost don't have time to like sit in it
and reflect. And I think even leading up to the confirmation with the biopsy results, I think I was even in denial because there's I was like, there's no way, there's no way, and you know, I started to discredit like the doctor and discredit their their level of education, like it's probably a mistake, And to be honest, I think even now there's still a level of denial, and
I don't know if that's like a coping mechanism. My first treatment day as of now will be next Friday, and maybe then that's when it fully hits and I get to process emotions better. That's also then when all these appointments that I've had leading up to next Friday kind of slow down and I simply have a new schedule of like you show up, you do the treatment, you go home, and you live your normal life again until you're back. Whether it's every week, are wey two weeks,
I'm not sure what my plan is quite yet. I'm doing a clinical trial, which means I'm basically randomly selected to go into Block A, which is treatment once a week, or Block B, which is treatment twice a week or I'm sorry, once every two weeks with different again to kind of like down different formulas of treatment. So we'll find out, I think next Thursday what I'm picked for randomly, and then I start Friday.
Why did you choose a clinical trial?
So with breast cancer, right now, there's what's called standard of care, which is like this one size fits all of here's six rounds of chemo, and then we'll figure it out from there. We'll see what happens. And chemo's very, very intense on your body. And so when I found I qualified for the clinical trial, what they're trying to accomplish now, and I think, especially as breast cancers on the rise, is kind of custom tailor a treatment for women so that you're not overexposed to chemo or whatever
the situation is. So the way I've kind of explained it to some of my family, I'm like, it's like having a cut on your finger and everyone's just chopping off your finger when you can just put nia sporn on it. And so if there's a a way to cure my cancer without doing excessive amount of chemo or treatment, then that's going to be best for my body, and I'm I'm willing to give that a try.
My dad had cancer at thirty stage four and got chemo, and I think it's a great choice.
I mean a great choice by you.
It's your personal choice, but it's a great choice because it has caused you.
Know, long term effects on his body.
Katie, you kind of glossed over this, And I think for the listener it's really important because breast cancer is on the rise, especially in people younger. The percentage chance that somebody listening to this is probably in a very similar place to you or will be at some point. And you said emotionally you're not okay, and so I think the question would be like, really, how are you doing with the hope of somebody listening maybe could feel less alone.
After hearing your words.
I mean, it's I think it's just part of your new norm. I think like there's days where you cry, there's days where you ask why. I think the two best things that I can offer someone who maybe is newly diagnosed is one, it's not your fault. And I think a lot of women when diagnosed go like, what did I do? It wasn't my birth control? Should I have been vegan? Should I have been vegetarian? Was it
my makeup? You know, you start trying to like psychoanalyze everything that you've ever done in your life and blame yourself. Am I am I too fat, my too skinny, that all these different things, and ultimately it's not your fault. So that would be like the first thing I'd say. The second thing I would say is it's and I
don't I don't really know how to interpret this. But a lot of people say, like, you're so brave for sharing your story, and I do appreciate that gesture, but for me, it's also it's been such a help for me to share my story and to have people who've been share theirs. And so there's a lot of people who, for their own personal reasons, choose to battle in silence and in private, and you know, that's their own choice.
But I do find something so supportive of being part of a group, being part of a chat, anything you can find to talk to other survivors. It's probably been like the biggest medicine for me since officially coming out with the public and sharing my story.
You being a thirty four year old woman and having this diagnosis and speaking out about it. There's going to be so many other thirty some things that would never have expected that they have it, that they're going to discover it through you. So know that you are a hero in that sense.
And people, I mean and women that now maybe that aren't as familiar with their bodies will hope, you know, hear your story and maybe go into the shower and check themselves. And just because they're you know, they hear it, and now they're aware and they're like, oh, I can do that, or I should be doing that.
I know I've always heard about doing I've just never done.
It because back in the day they used to say forty.
I mean, even now, are a lot of our mammograms aren't even covered by insurance. Another thing I'd want to add is, I think a lot of times doctors, sometimes because of our age, say oh you're fine, you're fine. And so then what I've encouraging people to do is tell your doctor to put that in your notes. Then they're declining to proceed forward in exploration of this lump, whether it be you know, ultrasound mammogram, because very quickly the doctor will be like, okay, fine, we'll get you
checked out. Because Ultimately you have to be your biggest advocate, and no longer is it the standard of like, oh, only older people get breast cancer, because I'm proof that that's not true, and there's thousands, I don't know the official number, there's so many women where that's proof that that's not true. And so I hope to see change in the future in terms of the mammogram age dropping or ultra sounds being more accessible for everybody.
Yeah, you are going to be undergoing chemo before you have a lump out to me or a misectomy. I know that you were saying that you're not sure whether you're gonna have a full misactimty or not. Can you give us why that order is the way it is.
Yes, So, when you have breast cancer, the start of your treatment is either surgery or chemo to put it in a simple form based on the size, so if it's small enough and caught early enough, they can actually remove it completely, check afterwards do chemo to make sure that everything's gone. Unfortunately, for the size of mine, it's too big to safely remove. Even if I try to
do a full mistectomy, it's too large. So for my treatment plan, we have to do chemo first to basically shrink it down, and then they'll constantly monitor that and then once it's at a safe enough size, or even if it's gone, then they'll be able to take a portion of it, which would be the lumpectomy, or if I opted at that time, or again, there's no guarantee that it shrinks small enough, then it could end up being a mastectomy.
And would you at all do a double mistectomy? Would it be of any benefit because you don't have the brocta gene, which is the gene that makes you more susceptible to breast and ovarying cancer.
Yeah, that's actually a great question because I just met with my breast surgeon today and this entire time I was kind of accepting that it was going to be mistectomy. I was weighing the options of maybe a double mastectomy. However, my doctor said, studies show that it does not necessarily increase your survival rate to do it. A lot of people do it for preventative reasons because obviously, I don't ever want to go through this again. So a lot
of women will do it, and not all. Obviously, some people do it because they have to, but other women will do because they're like, I don't care, just get them off. And then the thing that people don't realize is when you have breast cancer and you go through that,
you also then insurance covers reconstruction. So if you decided you want implants or you want it, and I forget the name of it, I think, so it was like, I don't rememberally official term, but yeah, there's reconstruction that's covered. So you know, some women, I think also then go like yeah, if that, like it decreases the stress of reoccurrence and I get a boob job, like, so be it. You know. So I think at this time, I'm waiting to see what happens. My breast surgeon her preference is
lumpect to me, it's the less invasive choice. She did say some women, well then maybe ten years from now decide to do that. But especially and my age and my hopes to have a family and potentially even breastfeed, I think at the bare minimum, the left breast, which is not cancer has cancer right now, it would be something I would hope to hang on to, but again I have to put my health first, so it's kind of case by case. In the coming months, what ends up ultimately being the decision.
That's another thing with you is because of your age, you still want to have children. You decided that you wanted to have children when you met Jeff, your fiance, and now you have to go through the egg retrieval part before you go into the chemo, and you just went through that and that's an emotional process itself because of the hormone fluctuations.
Yeah, it was. It was crazy. I did my treatment with Army New York and they are so experienced in what's called oncofertil which is just basically IVF for people with cancer because with chemotherapy it does impact your reproductive system in a negative way. So you want to be proactive and at least have options in the event that
you can't conceive naturally in the future. Now, some women have told me they were they had cancer, their cancer free and they were able to conceive naturally, but we didn't want to hold on to that, so we did go through the whole IVF process and ended up freezing our embryos. As of right now, we have successfully six fertilized embryos. That's great, Yeah, but this Friday is like and I'm learning terminology, So you're going to forgive me
that I'm not speaking on it correctly. But this Friday is when you find out like of those six fertilized embryos, like how many made it to like the I call it like the boss level at the final stage, and are like strong enough, healthy enough, genetically healthy that are like the final ones that then will you know, keep until the time is right.
This is such a wild time for you, Katie.
I don't want to dismiss or undermine just like all the things happening in your life right now. That's I remember we talked to you. I don't know how many months ago now, but I think I remember making the statement like you're just thriving right like things are you like we're talking about Jeff and a lot, Yeah, and like I was just like, you're just like in this season and now it's probably I mean, I'm assuming it's probably pretty difficult to see the good always right now.
But something that has been good and I've really loved the follow because I am and I've really enjoyed the humor is your fiance Jeff. And I want to know his response, good or bad, or just what his response has been to this whole thing since really the diagnosis and kind of the changing of his tour and his plans, and then obviously the diagnosis with the stage you're in and kind of all this happening, Like, how has he been to you?
He has been just the best life partner, beyond what I ever expected. When we first found out, we were in Hawaii where he had shows, and we were supposed to go from Hawaii to Australia, New Zealand, Japan. All of these were flights were booked, hotels were booked for both, everything was very official. You know, you have shows that
are supposed to be next week. So initially because I just I would have never asked him to stay with me, I was initially coordinating to potentially do care in Washington, where my family is, because also then my insurance was accepted there in Washington. And I thought, Okay, well, he'll go on his he'll continue his tour, that's his job, and it's you know, the next six weeks abroad. How do I how would he even change that? But then I think within maybe a day or two, he was like,
absolutely not, We're rescheduling things. I don't care. I don't care if there's there's penalties because it's you know, it's international and these are big shows that are sold out, and you know, unfortunately people do plan around these moments with him. But anyway, he rescheduled everything, and him being here for these past four weeks and now the next two have been the best because in the beginning is
the worst when it comes to diagnosis. There's so much you're learning, there's so many appointments, and he's been to every single one of my appointments. He did every single shot for me for IVF, and like, I like, I'll just get emotional talking about him. I don't know who or how I would be like without him by my side. And so as much as people want to give me compliments for being brave and strong, and it's like I do owe a lot of that to my partner, and
Jeff has just been amazing. He does head back on the road sometime in the first week of April, which is I think perfect timing. He'll be here for my first treatment and then you know, he comes home every once in a while in between the US run anyway, which is the month of April, So I think it'll be something we can manage. But him being there for these beginning moments is something I don't even know how I'd ever repay him with my gratitude.
Helpful your love, Yeah, I think your love is enough. I think that's pretty awesome. You know, I was thinking about this talking to you today. We only have a few minutes here, and some you know, a couple of quotes came to mind.
I'm not going to share because that just is kind of corny and goofy.
But I was a mentor of mine once told me to pay attention and to learn from those who have been through it, to listen to those people for their insights and advice, And so I want to take this moment to learn from you. You have been diagnosed with stage three cancer. You have a fiance, you are planning a family, You're gonna get to go on the road. You have all these things now that are in pause. I guess you've been through it. You're going to continue,
but you've been through it, Katie. Things have changed in your life. And so as you look at life now and moving forward, what is your perspective?
What has changed?
What insights have you been given just kind of through this process that I could learn from or anybody listening could learn from.
I mean, I think my biggest takeaway is I've never been scared about the outcome. I've always known no matter what is going to come, I'm going to get through it. I just have been describing it of a year of inconveniences and that's all it is. It's just like a I think my breast surgeon said, it's like a speed bump in a school zone. You know, you approach fast and you see the speed bumps, you slow down, you get over that hump, and then you just continue on.
And obviously I'm not on the other side yet, but a lot of people who have made it to the other side of beating cancer have said your outlook on life and your relationships really change, And I mean I think even now they already have. You just you value family more, you value your friendships more, you value life more. I mean, you really reflect on how we've been treating ourselves as these humans on lane, on Earth, and just things that we could be doing just to be better
while while our time is you know limited ultimately. But I know, for me, funny enough, I was dragging my feet on wedding planning. You know, I was more wanting to elope and now given the diagnosis, it feels like there's something really special about being to celebrate the love that Jeff and I have then to be celebrating that
with friends and family on a big, grand scale. And so my outlook on just even like wedding planning has shifted because you know, life is so precious and you just never know what kind of surprises are going to come your way.
Thanks.
You said that you're not scared, and I'm so glad to hear that, And like everybody knows, they're like Katie has got this. She's gonna tackle this like she is the strongest woman. I'm so glad to hear that. You know, you don't consider yourself scared? Are you nervous about chemo?
Though?
Like that's that would be like what I don't know how that's going to feel to my body. Like I feel like a lot of times we're in our thirties, we feel like we kind of know what things feel like. But that's one thing.
It's like, yeah, I mean, it is like a very aggressive form of medication, and there's things people can do to try to manage that. The I don't want to say the nice thing. But you know, I am young, and so younger people do tend to bounce back a little bit better. And there's been a lot of changes just healthwise of what I've done leading up to it, just to prepare and make sure my body's in its best health and shape, you know. And now I live in New York and we don't have a car, so
there's bare minimum. Just going on walks is going to be really beneficial, but also just allowing myself the grace of knowing I need to sleep a lot. I might feel nauseous in talking to other people who've gone through chemo obviously, like hair loss could be something, you know, but in the grand scale of things, is like, so be it. You know, I'll value my life over my
hair any day. Yeah, so I don't. I know it's not going to be great, you know, but given everything I've gone through the last four weeks, I feel like it can't be much worse. And then what I've already been going through.
My last thing that I want to ask you is how has Jeff being a comedian helped through this? Because it been like Patch Adams, he.
Have you guys heard some of the jokes him and I make it's like a mixture of like being out of pocket and like somewhat dark humor, but like because we're like in a private space, just him and I and we have that permission to do that with each other with my diagnosis, it actually makes it very fun. He's he's just always in such a good mood, you know. I mean, obviously it feels like so cliche. He's like
a community he's always funny, but he really is. Like it just it's the true comedic relief in my real life story.
Katie.
Really the final thing for you, and thank you again for coming on and talking about this. I know you know you've you've done a lot of interviews and you're you're obviously sharing as much information as you can with people, and we greatly appreciate it, and I know our listeners do too. One thing that I just want to make clear so those people out there can be praying for you, thinking about you, supporting you. All the stuff that people do in the midst of somebody else hurting what what
is the timeline now from here on now? How long is treatment? Kind of what are the doctors telling you about success rates? Just all the information that people can grab onto for you personally.
So right now, treatment to start is twelve weeks with this clinical trial, which is shorter than your standard of care. So the hope is that within those twelve weeks I'm cured or it's at least shrunken in size, that I can then proceed on to surgery. So that is my hope with this clinical trial. My hope is that it's successful. They have obviously this has been years that they've done this clinical trial, but with anything to make it official, you have to have records of success over and over
and over. So I'm just being part of that right now, so we'll know literally, I think week by week. Since it is a clinical trial, they do ongoing observations with biopsy and MRIs, Whereas the thing that surprised me the most with standard of care is you just do six rounds of chemo and they just manually check your lump. That's it, and then they'll do the official exam at the end of that six months. And so for me,
it's very closely monitored. So in the event the clinical trial is not working for me, they do shift me then to what would be the standard of care and what are.
The doctors telling you about success right here, Like, what are their expectations.
I don't think they've given me like a number, but they have had success. Like they're very excited that I opted into it. They're very optimistic. They really haven't approached it in a way of me going into back to the standard of care. They're just more approaching it like we're going to see how this impacts you positively, and we're just going to hit the ground running and start treatment as soon as next Friday.
Okay, Katie, We'll be thinking about you here. Thank you again for coming on here. We really appreciate it. Wishing the best, and I know this is a wild season, a wild time of inconveniences, but I cannot wait to talk to you in a year and hear all the cool things that have happened after these you know, Rode bumps have been passed over, Katie Thurston, everybody. This has been the Almost Famous podcast and I've been Ben talk to you sooner.
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