“I Love Him So” — Actress and Breast Cancer Survivor Shannen Doherty Celebrates “Anniversary of Soul Mates” With Husband Kurt Iswarienko
Doherty has previously shared that her very long and public journey with breast cancer played an important role in strengthening her marriage with husband Kurt Iswarienko.
Actress Shannen Doherty, 48, is celebrating eight years of marriage with the man she calls her soul mate, husband Kurt Iswarienko. Doherty, who most recently starred in the reboot of the popular TV show, “Beverly Hills: 90210” took to Instagram to post loving photos of Inswarienko, 45, to celebrate. Doherty, who underwent a long and difficult journey with breast cancer, previously shared that her cancer strengthened her marriage with Iswarienko.
“Love him so…” Doherty captioned a photograph of Iswarienko in front of a brilliant sunset. And in her Instagram stories series, Doherty shared a montage of an airplane trip with Inswarienko, followed by a photo of his handwriting an anniversary card, which she captioned, “We write our cards together. Anniversary of soul mates.”
Shannen Doherty posted loving photos to celebrate her anniversary with her husband. (Image source: Shannen Doherty/ Instagram)
Doherty endured a brutal, very public two-year-long journey with breast cancer, beginning in 2015. Early efforts to treat her cancer without a mastectomy or aggressive treatments were not enough after doctors realized the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. In the end, the actress underwent estrogen therapy treatments, a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Her cancer ultimately entered remission three years after her diagnosis, in 2018.
Shannen Doherty and husband in 2016, as Doherty was undergoing cancer treatment (Image credit Vivien Killilea/WireImage)
Doherty shared their relationship was strong before her cancer diagnosis as well, but that there used to be a few tricky issues, "It's not that our marriage wasn't good before,” she said. “But we were definitely going through some growing pains. We would lock horns on things, and instead of resolving it, we wouldn't speak for a couple of days."
Now, Doherty said, she and Iswarienko don't really fight the way they used to. "We don't let a night go by mad at each other," she said. “The last time we had a big argument was pre-cancer.”
Shannen Doherty posted loving photos to celebrate her anniversary with her husband. (Image source: Shannen Doherty/ Instagram)
Doherty also acknowledged the role of caregivers–be they family members, friends, partners–and the ways that a cancer journey affects them.
“For anybody to think that the only person altered by cancer is the person with cancer is incredibly wrong," she said. "Cancer alters the people in your life. And it's shaped both of us. We look at life very differently now."
Cancer Can Affect Relationships In Many Ways -- Both Good and Bad
In February of last year, Doherty also publicly shared an important moment that she and Iswarienko experienced during her cancer journey, as she was undergoing chemotherapy.
Shannen Doherty posted loving photos to celebrate her anniversary with her husband. (Image source: Shannen Doherty/ Instagram)
"A pivotal moment for me was when I was deathly ill from the chemo,” she said. “They were worried about my organs shutting down because I couldn't keep anything in. One time, I couldn't lift my head, I couldn't suck on an ice cube, I was don… and Kurt was crying, saying, 'Please don't leave me.' I looked at him and thought, 'I can't do this to him.' So I dug deep, gathered everything up, and charged forward again. Kurt and I got through one of the worst things a couple can go through, and we came out stronger."
Shannen Doherty with her husband, photographer Kurt Iswarienko, who she married in 2011. (Image source: Page Six).
