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Survivor Shannen Doherty Reveals She Found it Important to Be ‘There for People’ Who are Also Battling Cancer
In April of 2017, Shannen Doherty announced that she’d gone into remission after battling breast cancer since 2015, and now, she’s looking back at the ups and downs of her survivor journey and revealed that it was important for her to connect with other people who were going through similar experiences.
The 47-year-old recently sat down with Health magazine for their March issue and to candidly open up about the past couple of years and stated that battling cancer changed everything for her. “I felt more feminine and vulnerable than I’ve felt in my entire life,” she told the outlet. “I was always used to being the strong one, and during that time period, every wall I’d built up in my life came down. I also had a lot more time to look at myself and say, ‘I’m a pretty okay person’ and cut myself some slack. I’ve had a lot of those epiphanies. It’s OK to stumble.”
When the Charmed alum decided to share her story with the world on social media, she made sure to not hold much back. “It was just about being as honest as possible,” the actress recalled. “And then it became very important to me that I was there for people who were going through it. I would never give medical advice because I’m not a doctor, but I would always say, ‘Advocate for yourself.’” Shannen added that being open actually decreased the amount of hate she received online. “I get a little less trolls and haters on social media now, so that’s good,” she said. “I think because cancer stripped me of my defense mechanisms, it allowed people to see all sides of me.”
Now that the Beverly Hills, 90210 star is well into remission, her and her husband of eight years, Kurt Iswarienko, have been talking about raising a family. “We’re having conversations about an egg donor, maybe adoption. But there’s fear there,” Shannen admitted. “Am I going to last five years? Ten years? I certainly wouldn’t want my 10-year-old burying a mother. I’ve always wanted a kid. But maybe I’m supposed to mother in a different way.”
Shannen is clearly being more open about this rough time in her life, and she’s making more public appearance now that she’s in remission and working her way back towards being completely healthy. Just recently, she and her husband were spotted on a double date with friends Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prince Jr. at Felix Trattoria in Venice, California. We certainly hope we continue to get nothing but positive updates from Shannen!
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