Shannen Doherty has endured some very tough times during her long battle with cancer.
“When I dropped down to 92 pounds from chemo and was incredibly dehydrated, I had to still get out of bed,” the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star shared Wednesday on her new podcast, “Let’s Be Clear.”
“My husband at the time [Kurt Iswarienko was] sort of begging me to keep going, and my mom [was] literally trying to pick me up out of bed and get me to the doctor. … At that point in time, I thought that I wouldn’t survive it.”
Doherty, 52, explained that the “kindness” extended to her from family, friends and strangers who “connected” with her and shared their own stories about cancer treatments ultimately kept her going.
“To have that connection … it sort of wrapped me into this cocoon of safety, as cheesy as that may sound, as sappy as that may sound. It really did,” she said.
“It made me feel less ostracized from the world and like I was a part of something, which then started my feeling of deep, deep responsibility to share my story.”
The actress added that while undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments, she has been able to discover her true purpose: “help others going through what I was going through and … possibly speed up cancer research [and] possibly get more money behind it.”
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 but announced two years later that she had gone into remission.
The disease returned in 2019 and progressed to stage 4.
The “Charmed” star made a vow in 2021 to not live like she was dying.
“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 said on “Good Morning America” at the time.
Earlier this year, Doherty learned that her cancer had spread to her brain and that she would have to undergo neurosurgery to remove a tumor, which she had nicknamed “Bob.”
The disease has since spread to her bones, though the “BH90210” star shared that she is not scared of dying.
“I think I would be afraid of death if I wasn’t a good person, but I am,” she told People last month. “I’m not afraid of dying; I just don’t want to die, like, ever.
“I’m not done with living, I’m not done with loving, I’m not done with creating, I’m not done with, hopefully, changing things for the better. I’m just not done. My greatest memory is yet to come.”
So much so that Doherty recently revealed she is open to the idea of dating after splitting from her third husband, Iswarienko, in April.
Despite everything she is going through, the “Heathers” star has remained busy by promoting her podcast on talk shows.
“She is full steam ahead, and she is [doing] great,” her rep told Pvnew last week.
