Bachelorette alum Katie Thurston is sharing her journey with her followers after undergoing a double mastectomy.
On May 1, Katie posted an Instagram photo of herself enjoying some post-surgery French fries in her hospital bed.
“The first 24 hours are a blur,” she captioned the post. “All I know is I wanted fries despite feeling like I would throw up at any minute. Currently I’m wrapped in bandages with drains. No idea what my body looks like.”
Katie shares her cancer journey and is “getting better each day”
Katie added that she underwent a “nipple-sparing” double mastectomy with “direct-to-implant” reconstruction. Rather than using a tissue expander over time, the surgeon was able to immediately place a breast implant. The nerve preserving procedure should speed healing.
“As a cancer survivor, my breast surgery is covered,” she continued. “However, the nerve preservation isn’t. It’s not talked enough about how you lose your feeling/sensations. And I think this is a big piece for quality of life and feeling as most ‘me’ that I can.”
After thanking her doctors and nurses, Katie thanked her husband Jeff Arcuri, who was by her side throughout the entire process.
The next day, Katie shared the progress of her recovery on her Boobie Broadcast channel. That’s where she’s been sharing regular health updates since she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.
“I’m already over it,” she admitted, sharing a mirror selfie of her bandaged breasts. “Jeff has to help me get out of bed. My sides hurt. Maybe it’s the drains. Today will be my first five min shower I’m allowed to have. Just enough to [rinse] off the ick. But all while keeping the bandages dry. It’s a long road ahead but all I wanna do is get stronger. Stronger than I was before.”
Katie went on to say that she’ll rely on a wheelchair when they travel back home. “Jeff will have to carry all our stuff,” she said. “And me walking the speed of a baby turtle. But I’m getting my proteins, taking my meds and taking little walks. As far as I can tell, so far so good.”
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