Actress Shannen Doherty’s battle with cancer continues.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Aug. 1, the former star of “Charmed” said that her cancer has metastasized.
“I had breast cancer that spread to the lymph nodes, and from one of my surgeries we discovered that some of the cancer cells might have actually gone out of the lymph nodes,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “So for that reason, we are doing chemo, and then after chemo, I’ll do radiation.”
Doherty has had a single mastectomy, three rounds of chemotherapy and has five more to go. The uncertainty is what scares her the most.
“The unknown is always the scariest part,” she shares. “Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work? You know, am I going to have to go through this again, or am I going to get secondary cancer? Everything else is manageable,” she said.
“Pain is manageable, you know, living without a breast is manageable, it’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”
The former “Beverly Hills 90210” star has been fairly transparent since her medical diagnosis. A few weeks ago, Doherty documented the process of shaving her head in a series of uploads on Instagram.
“We did stages,” Doherty said of the photos. “We did a pixie. And then we did a mohawk, which was my favorite look. And then finally, we had to get the shaver thing and just buzz it off.”
Doherty was diagnosed with cancer in August last year. According to the 45-year-old, as a result of a lapse in her health insurance—due to management not making payments—she had to prolong a visit to her physician despite feeling a lump in her breast. This may have affected her prognosis.
“You have no idea what that extra time might have afforded you,” she told Dr. Mehmet Oz on his eponymous talk show in February. “Mine for instance spread to a lymph node or two. It might not have spread. The most important thing is catching it as early as humanly possible.”
As Doherty continues to battle cancer, she has found a great support in her husband, photographer Kurt Iswarienko—he has never missed a chemotherapy day—her mother, Rosa, and close friends.
“Thank God she is there,” Doherty said. “She is so strong, and my mom is like a Steel Magnolia. She is a Southern girl and she puts on this very strong face with me. She is constantly looking stuff up and, you know, she will force-feed me Gatorade chips. Her and my husband tag-team.”
