Former “Bachelorette” star Katie Thurston revealed over the weekend that she has been diagnosed with Invasive ductal carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer.
"I used my morning to figure out insurance for NYC and laws on preexisting conditions,” Thurston wrote in a post on Instagram. “I scheduled appointments for another biopsy, fertility, mental health, surgery, as well as meeting with my team to discuss the overall treatment plan, which will include chemo.”
Thurston, 34, is part of a growing number of young women being diagnosed with breast cancer early, often because of a delay in childbirth. And like Thurston, many young women with breast cancer have questions about fertility and pregnancy, says University of Colorado Cancer Center member Leslie Appiah, MD, professor of gynecologic and OB health in the CU School of Medicine and medical director of the Fertility Preservation and Reproductive Late Effects Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
We asked Appiah what younger women need to know about fertility and pregnancy when they are diagnosed with breast cancer.