It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but just two days earlier the blushing bride-to-be had been given the devastating diagnosis that she had terminal cancer.
Scarlett Thrustmore, 48, discovered she had stage four breast cancer just 48 hours before she was due to walk down the aisle, but decided to keep it hidden from her guests.
“I hardly ever answer the phone, and I did that day because I thought it was from the doctor and that it must be something important,” recalls Scarlett, who lives in Vancouver, Washington.
‘I was devastated. I cried. You hear that term, ‘your life flashed before your eyes,’ and it did,” she admitted.
Scarlett Thrustmore, 48, found out she had stage four breast cancer just 48 hours before she was due to walk down the aisle (pictured with husband Jason)
Scarlett decided to keep the news from her guests so she could enjoy the day
The mother-of-six admitted that the diagnosis “felt like a death sentence,” and she was immediately struck by how much more she wanted to do with her life.
“I kind of already knew. I expected to get a result that I wouldn’t care about,” she said.
Scarlett managed to put on a brave face at the Star Wars-themed wedding on Saturday, May 4, and decided to keep the news hidden from the wedding guests until a few days later.
She admitted that there were moments when she “mourned herself,” but overall, the fun of her big day served as a distraction from the terrible news so she could enjoy the day and “just be a bride.” .
“There was so much love and joy in the room. I had no choice but to get caught up in that,” the newlyweds said.
‘There were a few key people who already knew and they were great and made sure I didn’t have to think about anything. I could just be a bride.”
‘It was a beautiful, chaotic, wonderful day. It was so beautiful, it was everything,” she thought.
“To see how much everyone was there for us. They were so happy that we were finally getting married,” she added.
Scarlett managed to put on a brave face at their Star Wars-themed wedding on Saturday, May 4, and decided to keep the news hidden from the wedding guests until a few days later.
The mother-of-six admitted the diagnosis felt ‘like a death sentence’, and she was immediately struck by how much more she wanted to do with her life
Scarlett claims doctors had agreed to give her the biopsy results after the wedding, but a blunder meant a member of the team didn’t know and called her with the results
Scarlett claims doctors had agreed to give her the biopsy results after the wedding, but a blunder meant a member of the team didn’t know and called her with the results.
Heartwarming photos from the wedding show the couple enjoying their celebration, laughing and joking with friends and family despite the terrible news and sporting Star Wars outfits.
Scarlett says laughter was the key to the day, with Jason vowing to be ‘enslaved’ to her forever and the Star Wars-obsessed couple saying it would be ‘until the Death Star do us part’.
The performer said she is waiting for the next steps for her terminal illness, but urged other women to examine themselves regularly to detect the early signs of breast cancer, as she herself was ‘absolutely terrible’.
“I’m absolutely terrible at doing monthly breast exams,” she admitted. ‘Self-examination every month, without mistakes. Put it in your agenda.
‘Don’t let yourself down. I failed myself that way. I don’t want other women to let themselves down like that.”
Scarlett said: ‘There was so much love and joy in the room. I had no choice but to get caught up in that.”
Scarlett urges other women to examine themselves regularly to detect the early signs of breast cancer, as she herself was ‘absolutely terrible’
“If I had been diligent, I might have noticed it sooner,” she noted. “Maybe someone else can catch it before they get to phase four.”
In the meantime, she’s making the most of her time with her new husband, who she says is devastated by her diagnosis.
“I’m the center of his universe and I’m not doing well,” she said sadly. ‘We had plans to grow very, very old together, wear matching outfits and be completely annoying to everyone around us. I have to survive for that alone.”
‘My life is beautiful, vibrant and full of so many wonderful things. It is absolutely worth fighting for,” she said.
She continued, “We balance each other out really well. We are a very good team. I couldn’t have picked a better man.’