Shannen Doherty has been sharing her cancer battle with fans via social media for months now and her captioned photos have been unbearably emotional and heartbreaking at times, but that doesn’t compare to the interview Doherty just granted to long-time friend Chelsea Handler. The discussion, set to air on Netflix’s Chelsea , gives a closer look at Shannen, as she bears her soul about her war on cancer from the moment of her initial diagnosis through today. Even Handler herself has difficulty fighting back the tears, as Doherty shares her struggle. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, there can be no measure for Shannen Doherty’s personal interview.
Shannen Doherty Breaks Chelsea Handler’s Heart
Documenting her cancer battle on Instagram has helped Shannen face her battle head on, just as much as it has inspired those following her story. Us Weekly reveals that Doherty is making her battle against cancer even more transparent, as she pours her heart out in a new interview on Netflix’s Chelsea . Hosted by Shannen’s long-time friend, Chelsea Handler, the talk show offered the former Charmed actress an opportunity to tell her story in a new forum.
“I think what’s beautiful and hard and interesting about cancer is that it tears you down and builds you, and tears you down and builds you,” says Ms. Doherty at one point in the Chelsea interview. “It remakes you so many different times. The person I thought I was supposed to be or was going to be or who I thought I was six months ago is now somebody completely different. I realize, ‘Wow, I really thought that I was so brave and so gracious this entire time and really I was just hiding.’”
Sooner or later, it seems cancer touches everyone’s life, a point proven with the revelation that Handler experienced a cancer tragedy in her own life, when breast cancer claimed the life of Handler’s mom in 2006. Listening to Doherty tell her story brought those old feelings home and perhaps created more concern for Shannen, her friend, because it wasn’t long before Chelsea was brought to tears.
“Don’t cry! Don’t cry!” urged Shannen.
Once Handler had a chance to compose herself, Doherty goes on to explain that cancer has brought humility into her life and forced her to realize she was never the person she assumed herself to be. Shannen also revealed that her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, has also become a victim of cancer in that he has to deal with the changes that cancer has brought about in herself.
“It was hard in the sense of rethinking sort of who you are and how you come to terms with who are now and accepting it and looking at your husband and thinking like, ‘Dude, I’m so sorry.’”
Shannen Doherty Faces A Longer Battle, As Cancer Spreads
Shannen Doherty’s determination and positive outlook is doubly impressive when one takes into account the obstacles she has faced, since first receiving the diagnosis of breast cancer, earlier in the year. Just as Doherty received a single mastectomy, CNN revealed that the Charmed actress discovered that her cancer had spread. Faced with the news that her breast cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, with doctors fearing that the cancerous cells may have spread even further, Doherty has had to redouble her chemotherapy treatments.
“My mom went with me and I broke down crying in the dressing room and ran out,” says Doherty, recalling the day she received the new diagnosis. “And then sat in the car crying.”
The news forced Shannen to come to terms with the prospect that her battle might not end well. She says the pain and the treatments are all manageable. Losing a breast, or both breasts, is also manageable, but Doherty’s biggest concern is how her future will unfold and how that will affect her loved ones.
In thinking about her cancer battles and wanting to use her illness to bring about something positive, Shannen Doherty chose to share her story with the world, documenting her cancer battle on Instagram.
“I wanted to put it out there the way it felt the best for me to put it out there,” Doherty said. “And also, if I could help one person then it makes me go, ‘Oh OK.’ It’s easier to live with having cancer if I know I’m helping at least one person.”
[Featured Image by Netflix]