Leaning On Your Supporters to Help You Along Your Journey
- In a social media post, brave actress Shannen Doherty, 52, shared a prized moment with her close friends. The joyous post that shows the “90210” actress dancing and singing with people who helped lift her spirits while battling cancer is heartwarming.
- Doherty has battled breast cancer for nearly a decade. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. It went into remission in 2017 but returned as stage 4 cancer in 2019.
- Her breast cancer spread to her brain, causing her to undergo surgery to remove a tumor in her brain. She admitted she’s struggled with cancer treatment side effects such as hair loss and cancer’s impact on her desire to have children of her own.
- Thankfully, Doherty’s support group helped her emotionally navigate these challenging moments along her journey.
- Support groups can make a significant impact on cancer patients by helping them navigate their emotions after being diagnosed and throughout cancer treatment. These helpful groups can be made up of family, friends, and mental health professionals.
A happy Shannen Doherty, 52, spends a night out partying with her girls. Doherty, who is battling stage 4 breast cancer, says in a caption, “Single has never been better,” just days after drawing added attention to her divorce from ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko and her ongoing cancer journey in her podcast.
Shannen Doherty and two of her friends are dancing in a bar.
Doherty’s Instagram video shows the beloved actress in between two of her friends in a bar-like setting. As strobe lights move about in the background and music plays over the loudspeakers, the “90210” actress dances along with her smiling friends.
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Nothing Beats the Power of Support
For nearly a decade, Doherty’s spirits have been kept high while battling breast cancer thanks to her family and friends, including former cast members of “Beverly Hills 90210.” Cancer patients with a support group endure the rigors of their cancer journey better, according to SurvivorNet experts. “Some people don’t need to go outside their family and friends circle. They feel like they have enough support there,” psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik told SurvivorNet.“But for people who feel like they need a little bit more, it’s important to reach out to a mental health professional,” Dr. Plutchik added.
Dr. Plutchik also stressed it is important for people supporting cancer warriors to understand their emotions can vary day-to-day. “People can have a range of emotions. They can include fear and anger, and these emotions tend to be fluid. They can recede and return based on where someone is in the process,” Dr. Plutchik said.
WATCH: Why having a support group is important.
The support helps put your cancer warrior’s mind at ease, which may be filled with anxiety after a diagnosis or while undergoing treatment.
“There are a number of common things cancer patients can experience,” Dr. Shelly Tworoger, a researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet.
“Anxiety, depression, financial toxicity, social isolation, and PTSD,” Dr. Tworoger said, are all emotions cancer warriors may experience and can be eased by loved ones.
Shannen’s Resilient Cancer Journey
Shannen Doherty’s initial breast cancer diagnosis arrived in 2015 after she discovered a lump in her breast. For treatment, she had hormone therapy, a single mastectomy (the removal of all breast tissue from one breast), chemotherapy, and radiation.
In 2017, she achieved remission status, but the disease returned two years later in 2019. This time around, her breast cancer was metastatic, or stage 4.
Having metastatic breast cancer means the cancer has spread, or metastasized, beyond the breasts to other parts of the body. It often spreads to the bones, liver, and lungs but can also spread to places like the brain.
While treating advanced breast cancer, the goal of treatment is to keep you as stable as possible, slow the tumor growth, and improve your quality of life.
WATCH: Aggressive breast cancer in younger women.
As cancer treatments improve year over year, so does the number of people battling this form of cancer that spreads to the brain, says Dr. Michael Lim, who is the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors at Stanford Medicine.
According to Dr. Kimberly Hoang, a board-certified neurosurgeon at Emory University School of Medicine, a craniotomy procedure like Doherty underwent earlier this year is “a procedure to cut out a tumor” on the brain that may be particularly useful “if the tumor is causing symptoms or if it’s large.”
Since undergoing brain surgery, Doherty has focused on enjoying precious time with loved ones as she continues battling stage 4 cancer.
Doherty’s cancer then spread, or metastasized, to her brain. As a result, she’s undergone both radiation and surgery in the form of a craniotomy to improve her prognosis.
What To Ask Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may have questions about how to keep your strength through treatment. Here are a few questions to help you begin the conversation with your doctor:
- What treatment will I be receiving?
- What side effects are associated with this treatment?
- Can you recommend a dietician who can help me with healthy eating tips and weight maintenance?
- I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Do you have any treatment recommendations?
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