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‘Charmed’ Star Shannen Doherty Reveals Her Cancer Has Spread, Worries About Future

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 12:44 PST, Aug 1, 2016

Shannen Doherty, who starred in Charmed and Beverly Hills, 90210 is going public with her health struggles and says that her breast cancer has spread despite breast surgery to remove her lymph nodes. So Doherty is explaining that her treatment plan has changed, and it will now include not only chemo but radiation. Doherty, who was diagnosed in February of 2015 also had a single mastectomy in May, with hopes that the cancer would be removed. Though she is trying to remain positive, Doherty says that the unknown can be scary.

According to the Inquisitr, Shannen Doherty blamed her manager for not making her insurance payments, which made it difficult for her to get treatment when symptoms or breast cancer emerged. Doherty has filed a lawsuit against her manager because the breast cancer spread during the time that she was uninsured. According to SAG, Shannen Doherty had no health insurance for all of 2014. Now at 44, Doherty is facing an uphill battle because the breast cancer is now very invasive.

Us Magazine says that Shannen Doherty is going public with the news that her cancer has spread with the hope that hearing about her journey might help someone else. Doherty, who is ordinarily private, is giving interviews about her struggle with breast cancer.

“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. So for that reason, we are doing chemo, and then after chemo, I’ll do radiation.”

Doherty claims that the hardest part is the fear or the unknown and wondering whether the next treatment will work. Doherty had hoped that the single mastectomy and lumpectomy would be enough, but it wasn’t, and the cancer has spread.

“The unknown is always the scariest part. Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work? Everything else is manageable. 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.”

Shannen Doherty is hoping that by sharing her story, other women might find comfort. Doherty wants to share as much as she can on social media, including the step that caused her to shave her head instead of waiting for all of her hair to fall out from the chemotherapy. Doherty says that even though she knew it would likely happen, it was still heartbreaking when her hair started to change.

“After my second treatment, my hair was really matted, like in dreadlocks. And I went to try and brush it out, and it just fell out. I just remember holding onto huge clumps of my hair in my hands, and just running to my mom crying, like, ‘My hair, my hair, my hair, my hair. It was just shedding and it was driving me crazy. It was just clumps, and I was like, ‘Just grab the kitchen scissors.’ … We did stages. 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.”

Entertainment Tonight interviewed Shannen Doherty, who shared that she is really living one day at a time at this point because she has no idea what tomorrow will hold. Doherty says that she is holding onto optimism, and prays that if she goes through all of the treatments, she will be okay and come out the other side alive and healthy.

Though Doherty is now wearing an elegant scarf over her shaved head, she wonders if she will ever return to normal.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever look like me again.”

Jason Priestly, who played Doherty’s brother on Beverly Hills, 90210, has reached out and is in awe of her fight.

“What she did the other day, shaving her head and posting the pictures and everything, that was incredibly brave. Shannen’s a strong kid and a tough fighter, and I know that she’s gonna come through this fight and she’s gonna be OK.”

Priestly says that he wishes Doherty all the best and knows she will come out the other side.

Do you want to send Shannen Doherty your best wishes in her fight against breast cancer? Comment below.

[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images]

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