Shannen Doherty reveals cancer diagnosis has 'made me look at life and relationships very differently'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shannen Doherty said that her cancer diagnosis has changed her as an individual. The 52-year-old actress opened up on Brian Austin Green, Sharna Burgess and Randy Spelling’s podcast 'Oldish' about how her cancer diagnosis prompted her to see life from a different perspective.
“I think that cancer has been one of the absolute best and one of the worst things to ever happen to me in my entire life,” Doherty shared, adding “It changed me as a human being.”
Shannen Doherty says her 'values' and 'priorities' have shifted
“It made me grow up in a totally different way,” The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' star explained, as per People. “It made me look at life and relationships very differently. My values shifted. My priorities shifted. I feel much more clearer and much more focused,” she said.
Doherty further noted that she possessed a different “strength” now when it came to handling problems, as opposed to her more “quiet strength” before. Many things have changed in the 'Malltrats' star's life since she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Last year, she filed for divorce from Kurt Iswarienko, her husband of 11 years, and has refocused her energy in recent years to advocate for cancer research and medical advances.
Shannen Doherty still lives under constant fear of her body failing her
Despite all of these positive changes, Doherty previously revealed to the outlet in November that the cancer had spread to her bones and said she still has to deal with the constant fear of her body failing her.
“I woke up today and my back was hurting me, and I lost my mind for easily 15 to 20 minutes,” she recalled, adding “Because I thought this is what happens when the protocol stops working… the cancer starts spreading and you feel it and it starts eating at your bones and it hurts.” “And I had a moment of being really, really, really scared,” she continued, adding “So in that sense it’s the worst.”
She said she eventually calmed herself down by reminding herself that she’s “woken up with these pains before” because she’s “oldish” and her scans previously came back “perfectly fine.”
Shannen Doherty plans to live for as long as she possibly can
Doherty also shared that she has adopted a more positive outlook for her cancer diagnosis and plans to live as long as she possibly can. “There’s no cure,” she said on the podcast, adding “But there are so many super cool things happening in the medical field in particular with cancer that I never look at it as terminal.”
She continued, “I look at it as something I’m just having to stay on a protocol for as long as possible until there is a cure or until there’s a new med that’s gonna give me another three years… and then another five years, whatever it is.”
