'I was petrified': Shannen Doherty admits she was afraid radiation might affect her personality
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shannen Doherty has confessed that she was scared radiation might change her personality, adding that she was worried she would come out of treatment a different person.
While welcoming her radiation-oncologist, Dr Amin Mirhadi, to her 'Let's Be Clear' podcast on Monday, January 29, Doherty said, “Radiation can be a very scary thing, especially when it's to your brain, of course.” She added, “I was petrified” and wondered, “‘Is it going to change who I am?’ That was, as you know, a big concern of mine.”
According to People, the 52-year-old said that she asked her doctor, “Are you going to zap something? Am I not going to think as quickly?”
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Shannen Doherty joked about a desired side effect of the surgery
The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' alum joked with her doctor about a desired side effect of the surgery, she hoped he would “touch the part of the brain that made me speak eight fluent languages.” “He ignored me,” she said.
When was Shannen Doherty first diagnosed with cancer?
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Since then, Doherty, who underwent brain surgery and radiation last January, has been open about her health journey. In November, the former 'Charmed' star revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones and she’s looking to “squeeze out another three to five years of life” while living with Stage 4 cancer.
She also talked about the highs and lows of her journey and on Monday’s podcast, she revealed that her doctor gave her a photo of her “brain opened up.”
Doherty said “probably once a month — I'm going to really sound strange right now — I look at the picture.” “He knows I'm like a weird nerd that way, and I look at it,” said Doherty, who didn’t keep the photo to herself. “I got home [and] I showed it to as many people as I possibly could,” she said, adding “Some were horrified by it and some enjoyed it like I do.”
It's part of Doherty's mission to "live each day in as much of a positive manner with a lot of hope" as she can, an attitude that Dr Mirhadi says can indeed have a physical impact. "When you're not as stressed out and anxious you're not releasing as much cortisol which can have an effect," he said.
Shannen Doherty explained her attitude towards life
"Listen, I can die today. I could die in 20 years. I could die walking outside of my house and ,you know, a tree falling on me or a bus hitting me or whatever. Or I can die of cancer", she said, adding "I can do is live each day in in as much of a positive manner with a lot of hope as I can and embrace it and be like, 'Wow, you know, I get to wake up again.'"
