Shannen Doherty has been fighting the disease for years and she was in remission. Unfortunately, she found out in February 2019 that it's back.
Coming to terms with one's own end is a difficult process. Most of us have years before we have to think about it but unfortunately, some have to deal with it sooner than expected. Some write letters while some record videos of themselves to say goodbye to their loved ones, even when it's hard to accept that they won't be able to see them live their life.
90210 actress Shannen Doherty, who is battling stage IV breast cancer, revealed that she plans to record videos of herself saying goodbye to the people she loves. The actress has been fighting the disease for years, and it has returned and metastasized. However, she is having a hard time coming to terms with actually recording those videos or writing the farewell letters as it "feels so final," she said, according to Elle.
"I haven’t sat down to write letters. That’s something I need to do. There are things I need to say to my mom. I want my husband [Kurt Iswarienko] to know what he’s meant to me. But whenever it comes time for me to do it, it feels so final. It feels like you’re signing off, and I’m not signing off. I feel like I’m a very, very healthy human being. It’s hard to wrap up your affairs when you feel like you’re going to live another 10 or 15 years," she told Elle.
In February 2019, she had invited her friends, including actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, model Anne Marie Kortright, Malibu real estate agent Chris Cortazzo, and a Los Angeles doctor named Lawrence Piro, to her home to reveal to them that her disease was back and had spread. Her doctor, Piro, an oncologist, led the conversation. "Everybody got to ask questions and know what we were looking at as a group, as a team," Doherty says.
Her treatment includes hormone therapy to block the hormone, estrogen, that is charging her cancer. She also needs more medicine to stabilize the spread of cancer. Not all women die soon after their breast cancer has spread to other parts. Some get a longer time and a good quality of life.
For Doherty, this disease has only brought her closer to her husband, Iswarienko. "Kurt and I look at each other with such profound respect now. He was my rock in every way possible, and he made sure I knew how much he loved and valued me. We have a much deeper appreciation [for each other] now, and a much larger capacity for forgiveness," she told People.
It has been a long journey for Doherty, including the damages her home faced in the Woolsey fire and the subsequent legal battle with the insurance company over it, and now with an unknown amount of time on her hands, has learned to treasure the simple joys in her life. "I try to treasure all the small moments that most people don’t really see or take for granted. The small things are magnified for me. We have this endless well within us, and it’s just about continuing to dig in that well for the strength to face adversity—and so that we can also see all the beauty. It’s like anybody with Stage IV faces this sort of thing, where others want to put you out to pasture. I’m not ready for pasture. I’ve got a lot of life in me," she said, as per Elle.
In February 2020, when she revealed publicly that her disease was back, the Charmed actress said that it was a "bitter pill to swallow" as she had been in remission for many years. Now, she's focussing on fighting her battle and even though she has her "depressed" or "plain lazy" days, she pushes through them. She revealed in an Instagram post that she is finally back to taking care of herself, according to the Daily Mail.
References:
https://www.elle.com/culture/a34144792/shannen-doherty-breast-cancer-interview/
https://people.com/tv/shannen-doherty-opens-up-about-how-cancer-changed-her-marriage/
