Shannen Doherty gets candid about her cancer journey.
Tuesday, Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 52, opened up about the ups and downs she experienced after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 in her new podcast Let’s be clear with Shannen — including how she discovered her own “strength” to keep fighting.
“I really learned a lot about myself,” Doherty said. “And I learned a lot about the people in my life. I learned about my own source of strength and ability to dig deep.”
Doherty went on to describe several instances where she felt unable to get out of bed after particularly difficult days with the disease and its treatment.
Shannen Doherty reveals she had brain surgery after discovering her husband was cheating on her
“When I got down to 92 lbs. from chemotherapy and I was incredibly dehydrated, I still had to get out of bed,” she recalled. “My husband at the time was kind of begging me to keep going and my mom was literally trying to get me out of bed and take me to the doctor… at that point I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”
Shannen Doherty at the “BH90210” 2019 press conference.
Vera Anderson/WireImage
Doherty added that she ultimately remained resilient thanks to the “kindness” of her family, friends and strangers who “connected with her” and shared their own stories about their own cancer treatment.
“Having that relationship… It kind of wrapped me in that cocoon of security, as cheesy as it sounds, as juicy as it sounds, it really is. It made me feel less ostracized from the world and like I was a part of something, which then triggered my sense of a deep, deep responsibility to share my story,” Doherty said.
Shannen Doherty wants to ’embrace life’ as cancer spreads to her bones: ‘My greatest memory is yet to come’ (Exclusive)
The actress and cancer advocate said that through all of this she managed to find her true purpose, which is “first, to help others who are going through what I was going through and second, to possibly speed up cancer research [and] maybe get more money behind it.”
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Shannen Doherty attends the 9th Annual American Humane Hero Dog Awards.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Doherty has long been open about her cancer journey. After her initial diagnosis, chemotherapy and surgery, she went into remission in 2017. By 2019, however, the cancer had returned — and she announced her diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic cancer the following year.
In June, she said the cancer had spread to her brain. Then she posted a video on Instagram of herself undergoing radiation therapy.
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A few months later, in an interview for the November cover of PEOPLE, the Enchanted the actress revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones, but she was receiving treatment and hoped to enter clinical trials developing new treatments to treat metastatic breast cancer.
“I don’t want to die,” Doherty said at the time. “I’m not done with life. I’m not done with love. I’m not done creating. I’m not done hoping to change things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done.”
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Source: HIS Education