ancient unmarried star Katie Thurstonhis mother’s mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Life update: My mom has #breastcancer. I flew to Seattle this weekend to be with her on her first date,” the reality TV star. announced via Instagram on Monday, Jan. 19, next to a carousel featuring the same mother-daughter throwback photo with additional information about her mother’s diagnosis.
“I want to make sure he gets the right attention and information,” Thurston, 35, continued. “I hate that we have to be our own biggest advocate, but it’s also what will save our lives. Dense breast takes more than a mammogram to detect cancer, and yet my mom was never referred for more imaging. We’re getting more answers today, but I think our own advocacy allowed us to catch it early.”
He continued in the comments section: “If you have (a) family history of breast cancer or dense breasts, request further imaging, such as a breast ultrasound or breast MRI.”
Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is ‘ready to fight’ the disease. “Life update: I have breast cancer,” Thurston, 34, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, February 15. “Yesterday I saw all the couples posting their Valentine’s Day celebrations. I was jealous if I’m honest. Jeff (Arcuri) took me to (…)
In the carousel of the same photo, Thurston detailed how his mother received her diagnosis, first revealing that she got the news “a few weeks ago.”
Katie Thurston
Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Pink Agenda“My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago. But it wasn’t her doctors who discovered it,” the first photo read, while the second added: “She just had her mammogram in December, where the results said ‘negative’ and ‘probably benign’.”
The rest of the photos explained: “They also noted her dense breasts but didn’t recommend any more imaging. Told her to come back in a year for her annual mammogram. They never suggested a breast ultrasound. I told her to get a breast ultrasound. Ultrasounds can find cancer hidden inside dense breasts. During her breast ultrasound and RI schedule they did a suspicious mass. biopsies.”
According to Thurston, the star of the 2021 season 17 of the hit reality dating show, her mother was diagnosed with cancer “within two weeks of her ‘normal’ mammogram and her advocating for herself.”
The announcement comes nearly a year after Thurston revealed he had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34.
“I had a small lump in my breast around 10 o’clock (sic),” she wrote via her Instagram stories in February 2025. “I discovered it myself. I thought maybe it was my period (or) maybe it was muscle soreness from working out. But in the end, this lump never went away.”
An emotional Katie Thurston opened up about her mental state while battling cancer. In her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, September 30, the former Bachelorette, 34, broke down in tears as she talked to fans about how she’s coping after being diagnosed with breast cancer in February. “Tomorrow is breast cancer awareness month, and I’m, like, (…)
In March 2025, Thurston left LA to live in New York City full-time earlier start fertility treatments which would allow her to freeze embryos before undergoing chemotherapy and eventual surgery.
On March 28, days later Us Weekly exclusively confirmed it Thurston married Jeff Arcuri on March 22, the first unmarried confirmed that her breast cancer had spread to her liver, putting her at stage IV.
Earlier this month, after the start of the new year, Thurston gave a update on his battle with cancer.
“Recently my liver MRI continued to show no evidence of disease! TBD in my breasts,” she captioned an Instagram post at the time. “These scans will be done next month, so fingers crossed!”