The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - A Check in with Katie Thurston

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Ben and Ashley are connecting with Katie Thurston for an update on her breast cancer journey. She shares some valuable tips to help anyone out there dealing with similar challenges, and she gets vulnerable when sharing her emotional state from the last few months.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the Super Secret Festi Club on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is the Ben and Ashley I, Almost Famous Podcasts with IHartRadio. Hey, everybody, it's the Almost Famous Podcast. We are 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 are 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 who haven't. Yeah. So I actually last summer was the first time I felt a lump in my breast. But I'd had a benign cyst before that was removed and not cancerous. Same. Yeah, and I'm only 34. So I'm not thinking breast cancer at all.

It doesn't run in my family. I'm overall pretty healthy. 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. 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 it was like, well, I should do some kind of like medical checks before we leave and we were 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 checkup, like a, yep, it's just another benign sis. 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 a doctor. Then it was an ultrasound. And then can you stay and do a mammogram? I was like, yeah. And I could just, I could just feel the weight 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 the only way to confirm. So, you know, what do you want to do? And we were literally like a days 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 5th, and then a day before Valentine's Day, they confirmed officially that it was, in fact, breast cancer. So I have a fibroedinoma. I had a biopsyed.

Our producer, who you can't see right now, just recently 22, also has a fibroedanoma. Feels like a marble is very round and it moves. And you had a cyst. 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 I thought they were going to be the same thing the first one I felt uh was a like a pea size like hard you said marble just like this little hard spot much smaller um that I could just easily feel

I didn't I wasn't even I wasn't even doing self exams I just like and just this sounds crazy but like I just I just feel what my booze feel like I don't know I love you know so you know So you notice something is off. And that was the benign cyst and it wasn't a big deal. This other one was 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 knows what, you know, your boobs should feel like overall. And it felt just like different. And it wasn't on the other side. That was the other thing. And it's 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, does breast cancer hurt? And Google said, generally no. And so I kind of just took that for face 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 epidemic right now in women in their 20s and 30s and 40s who are getting breast cancer. And multiple doctors that I've seen in different departments are all 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-jointed, 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? And then, you know, once you do these checks, is any lump, any bump, something that you would now recommend somebody go in for? Or is there things that you'd say, no, don't worry about that? I personally think 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 it in the shower but typically you'll take two or three fingers

and you just kind of like literally just rub over your breasts you know down like top to bottom diagonally is there discharge out of your your nipples is there dimpling time out time out 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 than 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 dippling 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 described 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 um 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 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 I you know I started to discredit like the doctor and discredit their their level of education like it's probably a mistake and 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 or every 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, it once every two weeks with different, again, to kind of like dumb it 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 is 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 cancer is 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

neosporin on it. And so if there's 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 willing to give that a try. My boyfriend's professor is

way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, to Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up.

Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he's, now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated

with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, it's Daniel official, writer Strong, and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And we're bringing you Viva Las content. That's right. We are back in Las Vegas, the city of sin, and giving the people what they want. A full week of Y2K content. Wait, we're back in Vegas? Tell me why. Well, for the Backstreet Boys' residency at Sphere, of course.

We sat down with Kevin Richardson and A.J. McLean just minutes before they took the stage, and our very own Wilfredel basically became the newest member of the band. Boy band, please. Plus, the man who has the longest running comedy show on the strip joins us and gets his props. It's carrot top, baby. And finally, we all L-O-V-E-Hur, Ashley Simpson-Ross, joins us to talk. about her upcoming sold-out Vegas residency. It's a full week of nostalgic interviews you don't want to miss.

Listen to PodMeets World on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control and they're saying like okay pull this do this pull that turn this it's just i can do my eyes close i'm manny i'm noah this is devon and on our new show no such thing we get to the bottom of questions like these join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize

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No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned in, like, over 25 years. Oh, wow. That's a real G-talk right. Oh, yeah. We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success. You were destined to be a start.

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But the whole pretending and code, you know, it takes a toll on you. Listen to the new season of Grasas Has Come Again as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, sis. What if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance, bro, tell you how to manage your money again. Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part when you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem a year from now.

When you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union, shopping around online, looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets. I 100% can see how in just a few months, months you can have this much credit card debt and it weighs on you. It's really easy to just

stick your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment-free money advice, listen to Brown Ambition on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. My dad had cancer at 30, stage four, and got chemo. And it, in it, I think, 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. Yeah. 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, 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 too fat? Am I too skinny? There are 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, 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, it's been such a help for me to share my story

and to have people that share theirs. And so there's a lot of people who, for their own personal reasons, choose to battle in silence and 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 34-year-old woman and having this diagnosis and speaking out about it, there's going to be so many other 30-somethings that would never have expected that they have it, that they're going to. not 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 just never done it. Because back in the day, they used to say 40. I mean, even now, 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, but 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 ultrasounds being more accessible for everybody. Yeah. You are going to be undergoing in chemo before you have a lump out of me or a mastectomy, I know that you are saying that you're not sure whether you're going to have a full mesectomy 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 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 mastectomy, 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 mastectomy? 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 ovarian 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 mastectomy. 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 it because they're like, I don't care. Get them. 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. Fat transfer? I think so. It was like, I don't remember the official like 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 leave it. So I think at this time I'm waiting to see what happens. My breast surgeon, her preference is lumpectomy. It's the less invasive choice. She did say some women will then maybe 10 years from now decide to do that. But especially given 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 fiancé. 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 crazy. I did my treatment with RMA, New York, and they are so experienced in what's called onco fertility, 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 had cancer, they're 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 have to forgive me that I'm not speaking on it correctly. But this Friday is when we 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. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam, maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her.

Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same. same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, it's Danielle

official, writer strong, and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And we're bringing you Viva Las content. That's right. We are back in Las Vegas, the city of sin, and giving the people what they want, a full week of Y2K content. Wait, we're back in Vegas? Tell me why. Well, for the Backstreet Boys residency at Sphere, of course. We sat down with Kevin Richardson and A.J. McLean just minutes before they took the stage and our very own Wilfredel basically became the newest member of the band. Boy band, please. Plus, the man who has the longest running comedy show on the strip

joins us and gets his props. It's carrot top, baby. And finally, we all L-O-V-E-Her. Ashley Simpson-Ross joins us to talk about her upcoming sold-out Vegas residency. It's a full week of nostalgic interviews you don't want to miss. Listen to PodMeets World on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine that you're on an airplane. and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane

with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, do this, pull that, turn this. It's just... I can do my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of...

questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, sis. What if I could promise you you never had to listen to a condescending finance, bro, tell you how to manage your money again. Welcome to Brown Ambition. This is the hard part when you pay down those credit cards. If you haven't gotten to the bottom of why you were racking up credit or turning to credit cards, you may just recreate the same problem

a year from now. When you do feel like you are bleeding from these high interest rates, I would start shopping for a debt consolidation loan, starting with your local credit union, shopping around online, looking for some online lenders because they tend to have fewer fees and be more affordable. Listen, I am not here to judge. It is so expensive in these streets. I 100% can see how in just a few months you can have this much credit card debt and it weighs on you. It's really easy to just like stick your head in the sand. It's nice and dark in the sand. Even if it's scary, it's not going to go away just because you're avoiding it. And in fact, it may get even worse. For more judgment-free money advice, listen to Brown Ambition on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you.

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Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get to. your podcast. 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, I think I remember making the statement, like you're just thriving, right?

Like things are, you're like, we're talking about Jeff and a lot's wedding. 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 uh right now but something that has been good and i've really loved the the follow because i am and i've really enjoyed the humor uh is your fiancee jeff and i want to know his response good or bad or just what his response has been to this whole thing 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 is very official. You know, you have shows that are supposed to be next week. So initially, because 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? 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 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'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 U.S. run anyway, which is the month of April. So I think it'll be. be something we can manage, but him being there for these beginning moments is something I I don't even know how I'd ever repay him with my gratitude. How 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 quotes came to mind that 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 fiancé. You are planning a family. You're going 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 then 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 planet earth and just things that we could be doing just to be better 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 able to celebrate the love that Jeff and I have and 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. Makes sense. You said that you're not scared and I'm so glad to hear that and like everybody knows her like Katie has got this. She's going to 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 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 30s. 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. 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 health-wise of what I've done leading up to it, just to prepare and make sure my body. 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, like, so be it, you know. I'll value my life over my hair any day. So 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? Has he 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 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 done a lot of interviews and 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 is the timeline now from here on out?

How long is treatment? Kind of what are the doctors telling you about success rates? It's just all the information that people can grab onto for you personally. So right now, treatment to start is 12 weeks with this clinical trial, which is shorter than your standard of care. So the hope is that within those 12 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 biopsies 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 rate 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 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 road bumps have been passed over. Katie Thurston, everybody. This has been The Almost Famous Podcast, and I've been Ben.

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