American actress Shannen Doherty came into the limelight in the 1980s and has since been known for her roles in ‘Little House On The Prairie’, ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, ‘Our House’, ‘Heathers’ and the more recent, ‘Fortress’.
In 2015, Shannen Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer which eventually spread to her lymph nodes.
In 2016, she began to receive anti-estrogen treatment but this did not work out and cancer returned worse. For this reason, she had to go through a single mastectomy with chemotherapy and radiation.
It was later discovered that some of the cancer cells had spread to other parts of the body and the disease had advanced beyond what had been previously believed.
In 2017, the actress announced that her cancer had gone into remission but unfortunately, it returned in 2019 as a stage IV cancer, which had spread to many parts of her body. This is called a metastatic breast cancer.
At the end of February this year, Doherty shared a post on her Instagram to update fans about the recent development of her health.
She posted a selfie of herself in the hospital room and the caption read, “Early morning doctors visit for scans. Blurry eyed. Hair askew but the new bandage wraps made me smile! #cancerslayer.”
Despite her health challenges, Doherty has continued to work in movies- last year alone, she appeared in ‘List of a Lifetime’ and ‘Dying to Belong’.
She has also been actively creating awareness for Breast Cancer, sharing about her own personal journey on social media.
For Breast cancer awareness month last year October, she shared about her struggles, “For breast cancer awareness month, I’d like to share more of my personal journey from my first diagnosis to my second. 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…”
She continues, “…I had many nose bleeds from the chemo. Not sure if any of you experienced this. I also was beyond tired. I cheered myself up by putting on funny pyjamas that my friend Kristy gave me. Did they actually cheer me up? Yes!! Lol. I looked ridiculous and in that ridiculousness, I was able to laugh at myself. Finding humor helped get me thru what seemed impossible. I hope we all find humor in the impossible.”
In 1999, Doherty was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that may cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and weight loss.
Since her entrance into the world of television, Doherty has received a number of award nominations, including Best Young Actress Guest on a Series, Best Young Actress in a Drama Series and Best Female TV Star- which she won in 1993- amongst others.
In 2012, she also won the Webby Award for Best Individual Performance for the movie ‘Suite 7’.
Rachael Obadiaru is a writer who specializes in content writing, copywriting, blogging, and fictional storytelling. She is a feminist and an advocate for the inclusion of marginalized groups. She spends her free time creating a nuisance on Twitter while snacking on pringles and snuggling with her cats.
