Shannen Dohertyis opening up about her breast cancer journey.
“Is it all pretty? NO but it’s truthful and my hope in sharing is that we all become more educated, more familiar with what cancer looks like,” shewrote on her Instagram. “I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular checkups, to cut thru the fear and face whatever might be in front of you.”
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One photo showed Doherty with a bloodied tissue stuck up her nostril, while theBeverly Hills, 90210alum was pictured wearing Cookie Monster pajamas and a sleep mask in another snapshot.
Shannen Doherty/instagram
“In 2015 I got diagnosed with breast cancer,” Doherty continued in the caption. “I had a mastectomy anddid chemo and radiation. I had many nose bleeds from the chemo. Not sure if any of you experienced this.”
Explaining that she was often “beyond tired” during treatment, Doherty said she would put on “funny pajamas” to keep her spirits up.
“Did they actually cheer me up? Yes!! Lol. I looked ridiculous and in that ridiculousness, I was able to laugh at myself,” she shared. “Finding humor helped get me thru what seemed impossible. I hope we all find humor in the impossible.”
RELATED VIDEO: Shannen Doherty Opens Up about How Breast Cancer Affected Her Body
Last month, Doherty spoke about living with cancer during a virtual panel for her new Lifetime movieList of a Lifetime, sharing that she feels “a responsibility” toshatter misconceptions around cancer.
“I feel like I have a responsibility in my more public life, which I separate from my acting life … to talk about cancer and perhaps educate people more and let people know that people with stage 4 are very much alive and very active,” she told reporters.
“My husband says that you would never know that I have cancer,” added Doherty, who has been married to photographerKurt Iswarienkosince 2011. “I never really complain. I don’t really talk about it. It’spart of life at this point.”
Shannen Doherty.Earl Gibson III/Getty
Speaking withABC Newsearlier this month, the formerCharmedstar said that she’s beenbusy “living life"and spending her days “with friends and family and working.”
“I think work was always very fulfilling to me, but in a way it’s become even more fulfilling. A lot of people who get diagnosed with stage 4, they sort of get written off,” she explained. “It’s assumed that they cannot work or they can’t work at their full capacity. And that is not true and that is something that I would really like for people to sort of stop assuming, and give us a chance to prove them wrong.”
Doherty — who has been undergoing protocols, a type of cancer treatment plan, following her stage 4 diagnosis — added that she’s chosen to see the silver lining in her journey.
“You really have to dig deep to face cancer, and in that, you find all this stuff that you had hidden away,” she said. “And it’s beautiful things that you find: you find the vulnerability, you find your trust in people again. You find forgiveness.”
source: people.com
