Katie Thurston is breaking down the side effects of her medically induced menopause amid her cancer battle.
“Slept like s*** because I’m now in medically induced menopause, which means I get hot flashes,” Thurston, 34, said in a Tuesday, May 6, Instagram Story video. “Tonight I have to be social so I figured I would ease into that by being social with you guys during the day. In the meantime, show you kind of what a normal day looks like for me.”
Thurston began the clip by filling up a cup of water “to the brim” and adding electrolytes because her medicine made her “so dehydrated.”
“My lips have been chapped for what feels like two weeks straight,” Thurston said. “And so it’s this game of, like, catch-up and trying to just make sure I get enough water. Which I was already bad at before medication and now it’s like a true task every day to force myself to consume water. So, good morning!”
She captioned the upload, “Tired AF from menopause and dehydration AF from medication.”
Thurston, who announced in February that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, has been candid about her health journey. In April, Thurston shared that she has moments where she feels like she’s dying amid her stage 4 battle.
“I think that comes from reading from other people’s experiences. Just like others, there’s just a lot of unknown. People just aren’t experienced with cancer,” Thurston said on the “Uncomfortable Conversations” podcast at the time. “You usually hear stage 4, you hear that it’s spread to the liver, and I think automatically people think you have a short time to live.”
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Thurston noted that it “might be very much true” for some people, but she is “trying to be very optimistic” and feels like “that’s not the case” for her.
“Not once has my doctor made it sound like that’s the case for me,” she continued. “The medication and the route that we’re going has been very positive for people.”
Amid her battle, Us Weekly broke the news that the former Bachelorette tied the knot with comedian Jeff Arcuri. Days later, multiple spots were found on her liver, which were later confirmed to be cancerous.
She went on to pause her chemotherapy plans but said it was “not completely off the table.” Instead, Thurston shared that she would be “on Letrozole + Kisqali + Zoladex” as her first line of treatment.
“If this treatment stops working or if the cancer grows again, it’s an option we’ll revisit. We will closely monitor the treatment plan and make sure it’s working for my body,” Thurston said via her Instagram Story in April.
Later that month, Thurston explained that she would undergo “monthly” appointments to “monitor my heart and do blood draws.” She added, “I think my first scan from now is in three months.”
