Shannen Doherty Hopes to Live ‘Another 10 or 15 Years’ Amid Cancer Battle

Don’t count Brenda Walsh out just yet. Shannen Doherty got candid — and emotional — during a new interview about her battle with breast cancer.

“I haven’t sat down to write letters. That’s something I need to do,” the 49-year-old actress told Elle in a profile published on Tuesday, September 29. “There are things I need to say to my mom. I want my husband to know what he’s meant to me.”

Doherty, who married photographer Kurt Iswarienko in 2011, got visibly emotional during the interview, according to the magazine.

Shannen Doherty Hopes to Live Another 10 or 15 Years Amid Cancer Battle
Shannen Doherty MediaPunch/Shutterstock

“But whenever it comes time for me to do it, it feels so final. It feels like you’re signing off, and I’m not signing off,” she continued, noting that she might record video messages for her loved ones. “I feel like I’m a very, very healthy human being. It’s hard to wrap up your affairs when you feel like you’re going to live another 10 or 15 years.”

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was first diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015. While she announced she was in remission in February 2017, Doherty confirmed that the cancer was back — and in stage IV — during an appearance on Good Morning America earlier this year.

“It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,” Doherty told Amy Robach in February, referring to her late costar Luke Perry, who died following a stroke in March 2019. “It was really, like, shocking. And the least I could do to honor him was to do [BH90210, the quasi-revival of Beverly Hills, 90210] … One of the reasons, along with Luke, that I did [BH90210] and didn’t really tell anybody [was] because I thought, ‘People can look at that [and see] other people with stage IV can work too.’ Like, you know, our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do.”

Doherty reiterated that she has “a lot of life” left in her during her chat with Elle.

“I try to treasure all the small moments that most people don’t really see or take for granted,” she told the magazine. “The small things are magnified for me. We have this endless well within us, and it’s just about continuing to dig in that well for the strength to face adversity — and so that we can also see all the beauty.”

Earlier this month, Doherty’s friend Jason Priestley, who played her twin brother Brandon Walsh on the ‘90s drama, confirmed she was in “pretty good spirits” amid her health battle.

“I reach out to Shannen every few months, just to check in on her and say hi,” the actor said on the September 22 episode of Australia’s Studio 10. “Shannen’s a real tough girl. Shannen’s a fighter and she’s always been a fighter. And I know that she will continue to fight as hard as she can.”

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source: usmagazine.com