WEBVTT - A Check in with Katie Thurston 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.800 This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:06.360 with iHeartRadio everybody. 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.200 It's almost Famous podcast. 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:13.600 We're here today with somebody who you've definitely heard of recently, 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.960 you definitely know of, and we want to do an 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:21.720 interview today with Katie Thurston to get her story. And 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:23.840 I mean, I think the hope from all of us 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.720 is to share your story, Katie, not only in support 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:30.040 of you, but also to highlight what's going on in 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.280 your life for anybody listening so they can also be aware. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:35.440 So thanks for joining us. 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:37.360 Thanks for having me you guys, I appreciate it. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.160 Well, we're so sorry to have you here under these circumstances. 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.680 You know, you recently found out a month ago that 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:49.199 you have breast cancer. Can you start kind of at 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.160 the beginning of your story. I know that a lot 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.720 of people out there have already heard your timeline, but 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.200 for those of for those who haven't. 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.920 Yeah, So I actually last summer was the first time 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.279 I felt a lump in my breast, but I had 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.000 had a benign cyst before that was removed and non cancerous. 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.280 And I'm only yeah, and I'm only thirty four, so 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.160 I'm not thinking breast cancer at all. It doesn't run 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:17.360 in my family. I am overall pretty healthy. There was 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.520 never an urgency to get it checked out. And I 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.960 kind of put it off, thinking maybe it's PMS, maybe 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.480 it's from working out, you know, it's the summertime. And 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.399 then finally in January, you know, I was getting ready 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.400 to move to New York to be with my fiance Jeff, 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:32.880 and was like, well, I should do some kind of 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:35.480 like medical checks before we leave, and we're going to 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:37.840 be traveling for six weeks. And so I kind of 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.800 went into the office almost thinking it was going to 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:42.880 be like a like a checkup, like a Yep, it's 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.600 just another benign cyst and you can just move on 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.360 with your life. And very very quickly the appointment energy 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.280 was shifting. I could feel it. No one was saying anything, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:55.960 but you know, you can just feel the vibe of 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.160 the room change. And I remember first it was a 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.480 manual feel by doctor, then it was an ultrasound and 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.920 then can you stay and do a mammogram? And I 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.320 was like yeah, and I could just I could just 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.560 feel the way of whatever was happening. 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:09.920 Yeah. 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.200 So then at that time they couldn't get me in 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.520 for a biopsy, but they wanted to, and they're like, look, 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.040 we're pretty sure it's cancer, but we can't confirm until 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.480 we do the biopsy at the end of the day. 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.880 That's that's the only way to confirm. So you know, 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.240 what do you want to do? And we were literally 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.400 like a daze away from leaving for so much international 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:35.560 travel with Jeff because he was on the road for 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.480 his shows. And I was like, well, if I was 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:39.240 your friend, if I was your daughter, what would you 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:41.080 tell me? And they're like, we would tell you to 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.480 stay and figure it out. So I get the biopsy 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:48.720 on February fifth, and then a day before Valentine's Day 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.800 they confirmed officially that it was in fact breast cancer. 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.560 So I have a fibro atonoma. I had a biopsy. 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.000 Our producer, who you can't see right now, Jess recently 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:03.160 twenty two, also has a fibroe atanoma. Feels like a marble, 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:09.000 is very round and it moves. And you had assist, 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.560 how did what you have now feel different, if it 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:15.960 or at all, than what you had previously. 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.560 I don't think they felt different, like I thought they 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.320 were gonna be the same thing. The first one I 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.560 felt was like a piece size, like you said, marble, 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:29.239 just like this little hard spot much smaller that I 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.200 could just easily feel. I didn't. I wasn't even I 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.520 wasn't even doing self exams. I just like, am just 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.040 this sounds crazy, but like I just I just feel 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:38.880 what my boobs feel like. I don't know. I love 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.840 you know, so you notice something is off. And that 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:44.640 was the benin sist and it wasn't a big deal. 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.840 This other one was a similar spot, maybe closer to 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.280 like the armpit. So again, like I'm lifting weights, it's summertime. 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.560 I'm thinking it's like muscle, you know, because it's like 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:59.800 same size, maybe like marble, maybe bigger, rubbery or hard. 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.200 It doesn't feel like fat. Everyone else what you know, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.080 you're a boove should feel like overall, and it felt 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:08.000 just like different and it wasn't. On the other side. 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:09.360 That was the other thing. It is like you start 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.560 going on both sides and you're like, it's only on 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.720 one side. And so after you know, months of it 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.960 never going away, I was like, Okay, maybe this is something. 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.320 It was painful, and so the biggest thing that I 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.960 regret is using Google for medical advice. You know, breast 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.160 cancer hurt, and Google said generally no, and so I 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.080 kind of just took that from a phrase value it's. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.640 Sore, they usually say that's a good sign exactly. 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:38.240 So I had this like confirmation bias of like, all right, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.880 I guess I'm good, and so I just didn't go 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.000 in for months, and you know, obviously I have my 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.520 own regrets with that, But all I can do now 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.719 is educate other women because had I heard someone my 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.520 age with their story last summer when I felt the lump, 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.719 I think I would have been more proactive on getting 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.560 it checked. Because the biggest thing I'm learning now is 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.240 it's actually like an at right now and women in 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.599 their twenties and thirties and forties who are getting breast cancer, 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.080 and multiple doctors that I've seen in different departments are like, 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.919 we don't know what's going on, and it's crazy that 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.560 only until I was diagnosed am I learning that. But 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:16.960 now that I'm like searching for answers, I'm seeing just 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:18.720 how many women are being impacted. 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:21.719 Let's this is a weird question for me to ask, 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.440 but we kind of mentioned it when I think we 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.760 talked about your story initially when the news came out. 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.880 But for those out there, that are listening and they 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.160 you know, they're familiar with breast cancer, but they don't 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.920 exactly know how to do a self check. That kind 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:41.360 of confuses them. Let's maybe try to make it as 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.320 elementary as possible with the information you now know, Katie, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.240 how do you do these kind of checks? 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:50.320 Uh? And then you know once you do do these checks, 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:51.760 is any. 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:55.480 Lump, any bump, something that you would now recommend somebody 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:57.919 go in for, or or is there things that you'd say, now, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:05:58.800 don't worry about that. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:01.720 The only thing any lump you should get checked out 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.360 the way that I recommend doing a self breast exam, 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.640 or I mean even just watching a video. There's so 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.200 much resources and it's so easy you can do in 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.640 the shower, but typically you'll take two or three fingers 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.719 and you just kind of like literally just rub over 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.880 your breast, you know, down like top to bottom diagonally. 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.440 Is there discharge out of your your nipples? Is there dimpling? 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.480 Time out? Timeout? Stop there? Because if there is discharge, 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:30.360 what does that mean? 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:32.800 It just means you should ask your doctor, you know, 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.400 sometimes depending you know, if you're a new mom or 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.000 again your period. I don't I'm not a professional but 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.120 you got to be familiar with what's normal for your 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.679 breasts and if anything feels off, even if it is nothing, 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.279 I'd rather have the peace of mind hearing from a 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.600 professional that it's nothing, then do what I did, which 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.479 was wait several months and find out that it was 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:54.520 actually breast cancer. 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.159 But you didn't have discharge or dimpling or anything like that, right, No, 0:06:58.360 --> 0:06:58.920 Mine was. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:04.680 Just a rubbery, hard, painful lump in the side of 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:08.320 my breast in a spot that felt like maybe like 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:08.880 a muscle. 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:13.760 So let's talk about how your initial feeling was. They're 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:16.720 telling you in your first appointment that they think it 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.480 would be cancer. You have to wait for the biopsy, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.480 and then after the biopsy comes back and they say 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.240 that it is cancer, then you have to have that 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:25.640 weight period when you find out. 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:26.480 What stage it is. 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.200 What's your feelings? I mean, besides, I know it sounds obvious, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.840 but just kind of describe life for that week or so. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:36.720 I won't deny that I am. I know right now 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.920 I seem okay, but I am emotionally not okay, like truly. 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.800 But in the first I guess the four weeks that 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:49.120 I've been pursuing treatment and moving and changing doctors and insurance. 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:52.040 You almost don't have time to like sit in it 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.080 and reflect. And I think even leading up to the 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.720 confirmation with the biopsy results, I think I was even 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.120 in denial because there's I was like, there's no way, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.840 there's no way, and you know, I started to discredit 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.960 like the doctor and discredit their their level of education, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.520 like it's probably a mistake, And to be honest, I 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.720 think even now there's still a level of denial, and 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.400 I don't know if that's like a coping mechanism. My 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.120 first treatment day as of now will be next Friday, 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.840 and maybe then that's when it fully hits and I 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.840 get to process emotions better. That's also then when all 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.800 these appointments that I've had leading up to next Friday 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:33.960 kind of slow down and I simply have a new 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.920 schedule of like you show up, you do the treatment, 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:38.960 you go home, and you live your normal life again 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.120 until you're back. Whether it's every week, are wey two weeks, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.720 I'm not sure what my plan is quite yet. I'm 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.680 doing a clinical trial, which means I'm basically randomly selected 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.400 to go into Block A, which is treatment once a week, 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.000 or Block B, which is treatment twice a week or 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:59.280 I'm sorry, once every two weeks with different again to 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:05.120 kind of like down different formulas of treatment. So we'll 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.959 find out, I think next Thursday what I'm picked for randomly, 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:10.079 and then I start Friday. 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.480 Why did you choose a clinical trial? 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.440 So with breast cancer, right now, there's what's called standard 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:21.760 of care, which is like this one size fits all 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.400 of here's six rounds of chemo, and then we'll figure 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.360 it out from there. We'll see what happens. And chemo's very, 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.040 very intense on your body. And so when I found 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.160 I qualified for the clinical trial, what they're trying to 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.680 accomplish now, and I think, especially as breast cancers on 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:41.200 the rise, is kind of custom tailor a treatment for 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:47.199 women so that you're not overexposed to chemo or whatever 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:49.720 the situation is. So the way I've kind of explained 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:51.720 it to some of my family, I'm like, it's like 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.440 having a cut on your finger and everyone's just chopping 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.160 off your finger when you can just put nia sporn 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:01.320 on it. And so if there's a a way to 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:06.640 cure my cancer without doing excessive amount of chemo or treatment, 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.400 then that's going to be best for my body, and 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.520 I'm I'm willing to give that a try. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.920 My dad had cancer at thirty stage four and got chemo, 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.240 and I think it's a great choice. 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:29.280 I mean a great choice by you. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.559 It's your personal choice, but it's a great choice because 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.360 it has caused you. 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.600 Know, long term effects on his body. 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.480 Katie, you kind of glossed over this, And I think 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:45.640 for the listener it's really important because breast cancer is 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:50.880 on the rise, especially in people younger. The percentage chance 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.880 that somebody listening to this is probably in a very 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:58.080 similar place to you or will be at some point. 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:03.560 And you said emotionally you're not okay, and so I 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.080 think the question would be like, really, how are you 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:09.480 doing with the hope of somebody listening maybe could feel 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:10.599 less alone. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:13.400 After hearing your words. 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.120 I mean, it's I think it's just part of your 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.959 new norm. I think like there's days where you cry, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:24.560 there's days where you ask why. I think the two 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.080 best things that I can offer someone who maybe is 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:31.040 newly diagnosed is one, it's not your fault. And I 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.200 think a lot of women when diagnosed go like, what 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.959 did I do? It wasn't my birth control? Should I 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.319 have been vegan? Should I have been vegetarian? Was it 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.280 my makeup? You know, you start trying to like psychoanalyze 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.880 everything that you've ever done in your life and blame yourself. 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:45.760 Am I am I too fat, my too skinny, that 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.400 all these different things, and ultimately it's not your fault. 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:51.800 So that would be like the first thing I'd say. 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:56.079 The second thing I would say is it's and I 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:57.559 don't I don't really know how to interpret this. But 0:11:57.600 --> 0:11:59.439 a lot of people say, like, you're so brave for 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.320 sharing your story, and I do appreciate that gesture, but 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.640 for me, it's also it's been such a help for 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.600 me to share my story and to have people who've 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.680 been share theirs. And so there's a lot of people who, 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.040 for their own personal reasons, choose to battle in silence 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.959 and in private, and you know, that's their own choice. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:25.040 But I do find something so supportive of being part 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.480 of a group, being part of a chat, anything you 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:33.520 can find to talk to other survivors. It's probably been 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.719 like the biggest medicine for me since officially coming out 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:39.520 with the public and sharing my story. 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.600 You being a thirty four year old woman and having 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.560 this diagnosis and speaking out about it. There's going to 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.920 be so many other thirty some things that would never 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.520 have expected that they have it, that they're going to 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.360 discover it through you. So know that you are a 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.040 hero in that sense. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.040 And people, I mean and women that now maybe that 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.840 aren't as familiar with their bodies will hope, you know, 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:06.240 hear your story and maybe go into the shower and 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.400 check themselves. And just because they're you know, they hear it, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.680 and now they're aware and they're like, oh, I can 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:14.240 do that, or I should be doing that. 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.520 I know I've always heard about doing I've just never done. 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:22.840 It because back in the day they used to say forty. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.760 I mean, even now, are a lot of our mammograms 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.360 aren't even covered by insurance. Another thing I'd want to 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.880 add is, I think a lot of times doctors, sometimes 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.240 because of our age, say oh you're fine, you're fine. 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.680 And so then what I've encouraging people to do is 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:36.719 tell your doctor to put that in your notes. Then 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.720 they're declining to proceed forward in exploration of this lump, 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.680 whether it be you know, ultrasound mammogram, because very quickly 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.080 the doctor will be like, okay, fine, we'll get you 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.120 checked out. Because Ultimately you have to be your biggest advocate, 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.040 and no longer is it the standard of like, oh, 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.520 only older people get breast cancer, because I'm proof that 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.680 that's not true, and there's thousands, I don't know the 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.680 official number, there's so many women where that's proof that 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:05.960 that's not true. And so I hope to see change 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.800 in the future in terms of the mammogram age dropping 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:11.960 or ultra sounds being more accessible for everybody. 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:17.040 Yeah, you are going to be undergoing chemo before you 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.680 have a lump out to me or a misectomy. I 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.760 know that you were saying that you're not sure whether 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.720 you're gonna have a full misactimty or not. Can you 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.120 give us why that order is the way it is. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.640 Yes, So, when you have breast cancer, the start of 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:38.320 your treatment is either surgery or chemo to put it 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.960 in a simple form based on the size, so if 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.200 it's small enough and caught early enough, they can actually 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.680 remove it completely, check afterwards do chemo to make sure 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.640 that everything's gone. Unfortunately, for the size of mine, it's 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.600 too big to safely remove. Even if I try to 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.080 do a full mistectomy, it's too large. So for my 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.680 treatment plan, we have to do chemo first to basically 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.360 shrink it down, and then they'll constantly monitor that and 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.080 then once it's at a safe enough size, or even 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.160 if it's gone, then they'll be able to take a 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.480 portion of it, which would be the lumpectomy, or if 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.400 I opted at that time, or again, there's no guarantee 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:21.120 that it shrinks small enough, then it could end up 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:21.960 being a mastectomy. 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.800 And would you at all do a double mistectomy? Would 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.480 it be of any benefit because you don't have the 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.800 brocta gene, which is the gene that makes you more 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.880 susceptible to breast and ovarying cancer. 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.120 Yeah, that's actually a great question because I just met 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.520 with my breast surgeon today and this entire time I 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.400 was kind of accepting that it was going to be mistectomy. 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.680 I was weighing the options of maybe a double mastectomy. However, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.640 my doctor said, studies show that it does not necessarily 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.680 increase your survival rate to do it. A lot of 0:15:55.680 --> 0:16:00.240 people do it for preventative reasons because obviously, I don't 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:02.600 ever want to go through this again. So a lot 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.480 of women will do it, and not all. Obviously, some 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.120 people do it because they have to, but other women 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.600 will do because they're like, I don't care, just get 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.240 them off. And then the thing that people don't realize 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.000 is when you have breast cancer and you go through that, 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:21.120 you also then insurance covers reconstruction. So if you decided 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.160 you want implants or you want it, and I forget 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.960 the name of it, I think, so it was like, 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.080 I don't rememberally official term, but yeah, there's reconstruction that's covered. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.640 So you know, some women, I think also then go 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.640 like yeah, if that, like it decreases the stress of 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.600 reoccurrence and I get a boob job, like, so be it. 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:44.840 You know. So I think at this time, I'm waiting 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:50.080 to see what happens. My breast surgeon her preference is 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.720 lumpect to me, it's the less invasive choice. She did 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.080 say some women, well then maybe ten years from now 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.760 decide to do that. But especially and my age and 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.160 my hopes to have a family and potentially even breastfeed, 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.800 I think at the bare minimum, the left breast, which 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.600 is not cancer has cancer right now, it would be 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.200 something I would hope to hang on to, but again 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:17.320 I have to put my health first, so it's kind 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.240 of case by case. In the coming months, what ends 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:21.720 up ultimately being the decision. 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.960 That's another thing with you is because of your age, 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.960 you still want to have children. You decided that you 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.280 wanted to have children when you met Jeff, your fiance, 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:37.680 and now you have to go through the egg retrieval 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:44.760 part before you go into the chemo, and you just 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:48.600 went through that and that's an emotional process itself because 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.160 of the hormone fluctuations. 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.400 Yeah, it was. It was crazy. I did my treatment 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.760 with Army New York and they are so experienced in 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.440 what's called oncofertil which is just basically IVF for people 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:07.320 with cancer because with chemotherapy it does impact your reproductive 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.119 system in a negative way. So you want to be 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.280 proactive and at least have options in the event that 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:17.159 you can't conceive naturally in the future. Now, some women 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.200 have told me they were they had cancer, their cancer 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:24.200 free and they were able to conceive naturally, but we 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.400 didn't want to hold on to that, so we did 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:29.600 go through the whole IVF process and ended up freezing 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:34.440 our embryos. As of right now, we have successfully six 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:39.399 fertilized embryos. That's great, Yeah, but this Friday is like 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.199 and I'm learning terminology, So you're going to forgive me 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.000 that I'm not speaking on it correctly. But this Friday 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:48.360 is when you find out like of those six fertilized embryos, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.359 like how many made it to like the I call 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:52.720 it like the boss level at the final stage, and 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.960 are like strong enough, healthy enough, genetically healthy that are 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.560 like the final ones that then will you know, keep 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:00.600 until the time is right. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:12.959 This is such a wild time for you, Katie. 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.160 I don't want to dismiss or undermine just like all 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.359 the things happening in your life right now. That's I 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:20.920 remember we talked to you. I don't know how many 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.159 months ago now, but I think I remember making the 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.040 statement like you're just thriving right like things are you 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.960 like we're talking about Jeff and a lot, Yeah, and 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:34.800 like I was just like, you're just like in this 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.320 season and now it's probably I mean, I'm assuming it's 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:43.440 probably pretty difficult to see the good always right now. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.200 But something that has been good and I've really loved 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:51.000 the follow because I am and I've really enjoyed the 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:56.280 humor is your fiance Jeff. And I want to know 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.480 his response, good or bad, or just what his response 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.280 has been to this whole thing since really the diagnosis 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.400 and kind of the changing of his tour and his plans, 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:11.840 and then obviously the diagnosis with the stage you're in 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.119 and kind of all this happening, Like, how has he 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:14.600 been to you? 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.560 He has been just the best life partner, beyond what 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.480 I ever expected. When we first found out, we were 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.480 in Hawaii where he had shows, and we were supposed 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:29.080 to go from Hawaii to Australia, New Zealand, Japan. All 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.600 of these were flights were booked, hotels were booked for both, 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:34.359 everything was very official. You know, you have shows that 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:38.280 are supposed to be next week. So initially because I 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.480 just I would have never asked him to stay with me, 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.760 I was initially coordinating to potentially do care in Washington, 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:49.920 where my family is, because also then my insurance was 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.120 accepted there in Washington. And I thought, Okay, well, he'll 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:55.840 go on his he'll continue his tour, that's his job, 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.680 and it's you know, the next six weeks abroad. How 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.560 do I how would he even change that? But then 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:07.399 I think within maybe a day or two, he was like, 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:11.600 absolutely not, We're rescheduling things. I don't care. I don't 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:13.960 care if there's there's penalties because it's you know, it's 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.680 international and these are big shows that are sold out, 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.760 and you know, unfortunately people do plan around these moments 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:25.880 with him. But anyway, he rescheduled everything, and him being 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.840 here for these past four weeks and now the next 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:34.280 two have been the best because in the beginning is 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.840 the worst when it comes to diagnosis. There's so much 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:40.919