Shannen Doherty ‘thankful’ to ‘be here’ on Christmas amid stage 4 cancer battle
Shannen Doherty is feeling “incredibly grateful” to ring out the old year as she battles stage 4 cancer.
“We get to spend time with the people that are by our sides through thick and thin,” the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star said on the Christmas episode of her podcast, “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty,” alongside her mom, Rosa Doherty.
Shannen, 52, described her loved ones as people “who don’t walk away, who love us unconditionally, and that have the same beliefs and morals and standards and … character.”
She added, “I’m just so thankful, really, to be here for it.”
The actress shared that she “even got to schedule” her chemotherapy infusions so she “would be recovered completely from it for Christmas.”
Shannen was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. It went into remission in 2017 but returned at stage 4 in 2019.
In June, the “Charmed” star revealed the disease had spread to her brain and bones, prompting her to undergo surgery to remove a tumor in her head.
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Shannen’s health woes have become so serious that at one point she believed she was going to die.
“When I dropped down to 92 pounds from chemo and was incredibly dehydrated, I had to still get out of bed,” she said in a previous podcast episode.
“My husband at the time [was] sort of begging me to keep going, and my mom [was] literally trying to pick me up out of bed and get me to the doctor. … At that point in time, I thought that I wouldn’t survive it.”
The “Heathers” star added that she has endured “a turbulent year [with] some massive health struggles [and] some massive personal struggles,” alluding to her ongoing divorce from Kurt Iswarienko.
Shannen has claimed that she learned Iswarienko, her husband of more than a decade, was having an affair right before her brain surgery.
“I went in [to the operating room] after I found out that my marriage was essentially over, that my husband had been carrying on an affair for two years,” she said earlier this month.
Sources close to Iswarienko denied the claims, insisting the couple had been separated before he began seeing someone else.
Despite all of her hardships, both physical and personal, Shannen is at peace.
“I was actually saying this to myself the other night: ‘God, I think I’m actually starting to live the happiest version of myself,'” she said in Monday’s episode. “Even though it’s been such a contentious year for me, for some reason it just feels it’s gotten a lot lighter lately and a lot more positive.”
The “BH90210” alum added that she is hopeful for what is in store for 2024, which she believes is “going to be beautiful.”
