There are many life-threatening medical conditions in the world, but perhaps the most common as well as difficult to endure is cancer, of any kind. When it comes to women, breast cancer is among the most common to occur, and hence there are countless stories around the world of brave women who have successfully fought against it, and also many saddening ones where the battle was unfortunately lost.
In the case of Shannen Doherty, the actress who is known for her work on the show Beverly Hills 90210, her battle with breast cancer resulted in a drastic loss of weight due to chemotherapy.
We came to know about Doherty’s cancer when she had received her diagnosis back in the year 2015, and the actress had kept us all well-informed about her journey through regular updates on her Instagram handle. Thankfully, in 2017, she made the announcement that her cancer had gone into remission.
Fighting Cancer
Although she is no longer suffering from it, cancer obviously took a massive toll on Doherty’s life and that is why she cannot resist discussing it. In a recent interview which the actress gave to People, she highlighted that the aftereffects of cancer can still be felt by her.
According to her, even after remission, the impact of cancer probably sticks with the patient forever, although she is definitely thankful for the improvement in her state.
She is now 48 years of age and working on the show as well as recovering from cancer has not been easy for her, according to Doherty, and she now finds herself exhausted. She does not believe that self-care comes naturally to her, and that is why she easily forgets about taking care of her physical health when she is at work because she is completely focused on the job.
A Lengthy Treatment
After her diagnosis, Doherty had to under a mastectomy a year later, in 2016, after which it was time for chemotherapy as well as therapy with radiation. Thankfully, all the treatments worked, and she went into remission.
However, by the end of the treatment, she weighed only 91 pounds, which naturally caused her a lot of weakness. The problem stemmed from her body’s inability to digest any food, which is why she couldn’t maintain a healthy weight even though she tried.
In fact, her weakness had gotten so bad at one point that her mother had to rush her to the emergency room where she was immediately given an IV so that her organs would keep functioning normally.
She is now taking medicines and is staying as healthy as possible even though her body seems to have changed. Although she recognizes that she may not be able to regain the same fullness that her body once possessed, according to Doherty she has made peace with this fact in order to live her life as positively as possible. She has taken the path of kindness and is making an effort to go easy on herself instead of being too critical.
