Shannen Doherty Posts 'Truthful' Photos Of Her Cancer Battle To Honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Shannen Doherty honored Breast Cancer Awareness Month in her own special way.
The 50-year-old previously beat cancer in 2017 before announcing that it returned as Stage 4 earlier this year.
On Thursday, October 7, the actress posted a series of unfiltered photos on her Instagram page to give her followers a realistic glimpse into her difficult cancer battle.
"For breast cancer awareness month, I'd like to share more of my own personal journey from my first diagnosis to my second," she captioned the post.
"Is it all pretty? NO but it's truthful and my hope in sharing is that we all become more educated, more familiar with what cancer looks like," she continued.
"I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular checkups, to cut thru the fear and face whatever might be right in front of you," the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum added.
Doherty was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and she underwent a single mastectomy as part of her treatment.
"In 2015 I got diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a mastectomy and did chemo and radiation. I had many nose bleeds from the chemo. Not sure if any of you experienced this," she penned in a statement posted on her Instagram on Thursday.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
"I cheered myself up by putting on funny pajamas that my friend Kristy gave me. Did they actually cheer me up? Yes!! Lol. I looked ridiculous and in that ridiculousness, I was able to laugh at myself," the caption continued.
She concluded, "Finding humor helped me get thru what seemed impossible. I hope we all find humor in the impossible."
As OK! previously reported, Doherty gave an update on her health during an appearance on Good Morning America earlier this week.
She told the GMA hosts that she has been spending "a lot of time with friends and family" and just "living life."
"I never want to operate [like I’m dying],” she continued. "I just want to operate as I don't have things to check off because I'm going to keep fighting to stay alive."
She also pointed out the difficulty of being labeled as a person with a Stage 4 diagnosis.
"A lot of people who get diagnosed with Stage 4, they sort of get written off," she explained. "It's assumed that they cannot work or they can't work at their full capacity, and that is not true."
"That is something that I would really like for people to stop assuming and give us a chance to prove them wrong," she added.
