Shannen Doherty has been battling breast cancer for over 8 years, and this battle has been a difficult one for both her and the people who love her and have been with her. In a recent Instagram post, Shannen said she was visited early in the morning by doctors for scans, which means that her health is not yet stable. She also wrote “With bleary eyes. My hair was a mess, but the fresh bandage wraps brightened my day! #Cancerslayer.” It’s good that she’s still determined to fight for her life.

Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after discovering a lump in her breast. Doctors tried several treatments to help her, but unfortunately in the end she needed a single mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation. Doherty’s cancer went into remission in 2017 so she probably felt a slight breath and a little hope that she would be well, but it reappeared in February 2020 as stage IV breast cancer and this time it spread to many parts of the body.

The stages of breast cancer vary from 0 to IV, with higher numbers signifying a more invasive malignancy, or how far the cancerous cells have grown beyond the original tumor.

In stage 0 it means that the disease is just beginning and can be best treated, but it is harder to detect at this stage. Stage IV means that the cancer has spread to other regions of the body. This stage is also known as metastatic breast cancer, and over 150,000 people in the United States are living with metastatic breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Although unfortunately this stage is more difficult to treat, studies show that due to current technology life expectancy for these patients has increased significantly compared to previous years.

Doherty recently appeared in two films, List of a Lifetime and Dying to Belong, and decided to accept those roles to help her break away from what was going on in her life and think about something else.

The actress decided to tell her story on social media to help other people who face the same problems. She also chose to speak openly about her experience, even about chemotherapy. It is a brave decision to expose this part of your life on social media and it is admirable to try to help other people. The actress took this decision seriously and told the parts that maybe many people would not tell. For example, she said she experienced more nosebleeds due to chemotherapy.

She also said that she tries to do all kinds of activities to make her feel a little better, such as wearing some funny pajamas in which she looks very funny and laughed for a while. Such moments can give us a feeling of well-being even if initially it seems that there are some insignificant moments that will not help us at all.