"The first big step is behind me," she wrote. "Now it’s time to heal while we wait for the next step in my treatment plan,” she said in an Instagram post. Cardarelli thanked her medical team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for their “kindness, compassion, and support throughout such a challenging and stressful process,” and said, “I’m truly so grateful to be in your care.”
“Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me, checked in, and lifted me up. One day at a time,” she added.
The update follows Cardarelli's announcement three weeks earlier that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after noticing a change in her breast.
"I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer at 33 years old," Cardarelli wrote on Instagram. "If breast cancer can happen to an otherwise healthy young woman with no family history of breast cancer, negative genetic testing, and 7 years before routine screening is recommended, it can happen to anyone."
"Something in my gut was like, 'This feels a little bit different to me,'" she told the magazine.
Cardarelli told the magazine she was shocked by the diagnosis because, in addition to no family history of breast cancer, she prioritized exercise, nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle.
“I feel fear and sadness,” Cardarelli says. “I'm like, why did this happen? I do not fit the profile of somebody that should get cancer at 33 years old. So yes, there's a little bit of anger there. But I'm not angry at God. I'm leaning on Him more than ever."
She also said one of the hardest parts has been watching her mother, who has lived with stage 4 colon cancer for more than a decade, help her through treatment.
Despite her diagnosis, Cardarelli continued to make public appearances, including attending CMA Fest in June and the Country Music Association Awards earlier that month, while also working on music and acting projects.