Shannon Doherty is opening up about her health struggles.
In 2015, Shannon was diagnosed with breast cancer. After getting treatment, the cancer went into remission. But, in her recent interview, which aired on Good Morning America’s Tuesday (February 4) episode, the BH90210 star reveals that her cancer is back – and it’s stage 4.
“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that — I’m stage four. So my cancer came back. And that’s why I’m here,” she said during the interview.
“I don’t think that I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways,” she reflects. “I have definite days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I have days where I say, ‘Why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”
Four months before working on the set of the 90210 reboot, her friend and former co-star Luke Perry passed away – and his passing hit her hard.
“It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,” Shannon shares. “It was really, like, shocking. And the least I could do to honor him was to do that show. I still haven’t done, in my opinion. So it’s a hard one.”
She received the diagnosis over a year ago, but chose to deal with it privately. She even worked on the 90210 reboot despite of it – she says she didn’t want to tell anyone because she wanted to prove she could still work.
“One of the reasons, along with Luke — that I did ‘90210’ and didn’t really tell anybody because I thought, people can look at that other people with stage four can work too. Like, you know, our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do,” she said.
Not even al her castmates knew. She reveals she only told one – Brian Austin Green.
“I had moments of great anxiety where I thought, ‘I can’t really do this,’ and Brian was the one person who — of that group of people that knew — that I told, like, pretty quickly and said, ‘Here, the — this is what I’m dealing with,'” she said. “So prior to shooting he would always call me and say, ‘Listen, you know, whatever happens, I have your back.’ He would look at me and be like, ‘We got this, kiddo’… so Brian helped me through a lot.”
As for why she is opening up about her diagnosis now, she’s also dealing with an ongoing court case with her insurance company, and the documents submitted includes details of her health.
“I’d rather people hear it from me. I don’t want it to be twisted. I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic,” Shannon said. “And I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me, I just didn’t want them to know yet.”
Her insurance company, State Farm, has since issued a statement.
“We empathize with Ms. Doherty’s health issues and wish her a full recovery,” State Farm said in a statement. “We strongly believe we have upheld our commitment to our customer and have paid what we owe on this claim. We are prepared to defend our position in court.”
During her initial diagnosis, she shared her battle with the big C on social media. And has since used her platform to speak out about it. And, despite being “petrified” and “pretty scared” of the health battle ahead of her, she hopes that she will be able to make a difference for people who have been through or are going through similar experiences.
“I think the thing I want to do the most right now is I want to make an impact,” Shannon said. “I want to be remembered for something bigger than just me.”
After her interview aired, she shared a Peanut comic on Instagram where Charlie tells Snoopy, “We only live once, Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies, “Wrong! We only die once. We live every day!”
Praying for your health, Shannon!
