Craig Sjodin / ABC

'The Bachelorette' alum Joe Amabile shares brain surgery update

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/29/2026

The Bachelorette alum Joe Amabile has shared an update on the surgery he's going to have to remove a lesion in his brain.

Joe, 40, took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday, July 28 with a "little update" and explained that he was supposed to undergo the surgery that very day -- but plans changed.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

"Alright so today was supposed to be my original, was my original, surgery date. But when I switched hospitals, I got pushed back a week," Joe explained in a video.

"The waiting game has been -- it's been tough. It's been tricky."

The Bachelor in Paradise alum continued, "Because like, on one hand, I'm like, 'Alright let's get this over.' On the other hand, I'm telling myself, 'Why are you rushing to have brain surgery?' Type of thing. So yeah... surgery is next week."

Joe captioned the video, "I'm someone who likes to just rip the band-aid off, so the waiting game has been tough, to say the least. A lot of ups and downs, but I'm almost there... Surgery is next week."

Joe also revealed via Instagram that he hopes to run in the 2026 New York City marathon after undergoing brain surgery next week.

Joe uploaded a screenshot of his acceptance into the marathon and wrote, "We'll see," along with a crossed-fingers emoji.

Joe first revealed his brain tumor diagnosis to the world on July 13 via Instagram.

"They ended up finding a lesion in my brain," Joe told his fans in a video.

"So then I had to go get a brain MRI, and there was a blueberry-sized lesion in my brain that looks to be a glioma, which is a tumor."

Joe said he needed to have surgery to have the lesion removed and tested.

"I definitely wasn't expecting this," Joe said at the time.

"I think it's one of those things where you're like, 'Oh, something like this would never happen to me,' and here I am. They say it's really early stages. I hope they are able to get it all, and I'm fine."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)

Joe and his wife, Serena Pitt, subsequently discussed Joe's health crisis during the July 16 episode of their "Not Married to This" podcast.

The Bachelor in Paradise couple shared how they both had full-body MRI scans with Prenuvo -- with whom they were doing a professional partnership -- just to be proactive about their health.

About two days later, Joe said he received a phone call and thought he was going to be told he had an enlarged prostate because he tends to pee a lot during the night.

But when Joe spoke to his doctor on the phone, the Bachelor in Paradise alum was informed he has "a lesion" in his brain.

"[They said], 'It looks to be, potentially, the size of a large blueberry or a small grape or a marble.' A marble is what I actually prefer," Joe recalled.

"It's in the frontal lobe of my brain. The doctor was pretty alarming where he was like, 'You've got to go get this checked within the next week or two. It's urgent.'"

Joe therefore scheduled another MRI, after which the radiologist characterized his lesion as an "early-stage glioma, which is a tumor." Joe said it was Grade 1 or 2.

Joe said the news was pretty shocking because, "for the most part," he wasn't experiencing any symptoms.

"Now I kind of feel like I might have symptoms, but some of them are self-induced. So that's a difficult territory," Joe admitted.

He went on to elaborate, "The symptoms I'm having now are more like lightheadedness, and I think a lot of it now is more anxiety, I believe. But who knows? What I would be experiencing more of [based on] where it is in my brain would be lack of motor skills, personality changes, and memory loss."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Joe said he ultimately decided to undergo surgery to remove the tumor because monitoring it wouldn't help anything and a lesion in his brain "could potentially get worse very fast."

Joe acknowledged, "The surgery is very dangerous. It's a craniotomy, which is scary. It's a serious surgery," Joe said.

Serena clarified how a surgeon will cut out a piece of Joe's skull and take out as much of the tumor as they can. Titanium screws will apparently be used to close up Joe's skull.

"Even though it's slow-growing, the likelihood of it growing into something aggressive or problematic is very high," Serena noted. "They are amazed we caught it so early... so that's good news."

Joe said his plan was to keep his "stress levels low" leading up to the surgery.

Serena concluded at the time, "They said a few days in the hospital, a few weeks out, and then you'll be back and better than ever, baby!"

Joe found fame when he competed on Season 14 of The Bachelorette starring Becca Kufrin in 2018.

After being a Night 1 boot, Joe returned for Season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise, where he fell in love with Kendall Long.

After Joe and Kendall split, Joe looked for love on Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2021 and found it with Serena.

Joe and Serena quietly tied the knot in a New York City courthouse in 2022 before having a bigger "magical" wedding for family and friends in South Carolina in September 2023.