In 2015, Shannen Doherty found out she had breast cancer. She bravely fought the disease and after two long years of treatment - surgery, chemotherapy and radiation - it seemed she had overcome it. However, last year, she learned that the breast cancer had returned and was stage four, meaning it has gone beyond her breasts and lymph nodes and had moved into her spine. She expects it to also spread to her brain, lungs and liver.
With the diagnosis, the former 90210 actress told Elle that she plans to record messages and pen notes to her loved ones to say goodbye, but not just yet. She stated, "I haven't sat down to write letters. That's something I need to do. There are things I need to say to my mom. I want my husband to know what he means to me. Whenever it comes time for me to do it, it feels so final. It feels like you're signing off, and I'm not signing off."
Doherty, who is on hormone therapy to stop the cancer growth, as well as another drug to treat the cancer, went on to say, "I feel like I'm a very, very healthy human being. It's hard to wrap up your affairs when you feel like you're going to live another 10 or 15 years." And she is right, plenty of people with stage four cancer live over a decade or longer with treatment.
The 49-year-old isn't slowing down either. She's developing a TV show and other projects all while advocating on behalf of those battling stage IV breast cancer. Doherty stated, "Others want to put you out to pasture. I'm not ready for pasture. I've got a lot of life in me."
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