Friends make such a difference. Legendary best-friends, Shannen Doherty, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Selma Blair shared their latest get-together on Blair's Instagram. “National treasures,” Blair wrote, using a hashtag. “Guard them with my life ???????? … I love them. We laugh … ps. The richest one payed. Thanks!!! ????.”
Read MoreLove for the post poured in from Faith Ford, Angie Harmon, Katie Couric, and fans who wrote, "I feel like I've grown up with all of you and we're all friends … now I'm 40 and still follow you. â¤ï¸" Said another, “This is what Life is about. If you can't laugh with friends… ????"
RELATED: Why Is Actress Selma Blair Getting Chemotherapy For Multiple Sclerosis?
Gellar joked: "Pitching a new show. Brenda, Buffy, and Zoe. One of us is not sold on the idea.”
Among friends? Amy Grantham says cancer is "the great revealer," saying she learned who her friends were and who they weren't
Gellar, who starred in “Cruel Intentions” with Blair, stood by Doherty during her original breast cancer journey in 2015-2016. "Watching Selma's been the hardest thing of my life," she told Parade in Oct. 2019. "I think as hard and difficult as it was to watch Shannon battle cancer, I think that we have a greater understanding of what cancer is, what the treatment looks like, what prognosis looks like," she says. But with MS she says: “Every case is different. Every experience is different. And so I think that's been harder to watch," she explains.
RELATED: 'Cancer Ghosting' Is Real Many Survivors Say Friends Suddenly Disappear After a Diagnosis
Gellar wants people to know that, even during cancer, life goes on for patients in treatment: "This girl has had this diagnosis,” she told US. “She shot an entire season of a television show. She looked beautiful. She worked 16 hour days. I think people have to remember that life is tough, but Shannen's a lot tougher," Gellar added.
"Cancer is not something that defines her … It has its ups and its downs, but I think that it's made the world see the side of Shannen that I've always known."
RELATED: Shannen Doherty's Sisterhood Rallies Around Her Following Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis
"This girl has had this diagnosis she shot an entire season of a television show. She looked beautiful. She worked 16 hour days. I think people have to remember that life is tough, but Shannen's a lot tougher," Gellar added. "Cancer is not something that defines her. It's an experience that's certainly changed her and changed all of us. It has its ups and its downs, but I think that it's made the world see the side of Shannen that I've always known."
Shannen Doherty’s Cancer Journey
Doherty was public about her first journey with cancer after a 2015 biopsy determined that a lump in her breast was cancerous, she told Health. She initially tried to fight the disease through hormone therapy but, due to the cancer spreading to her lymph nodes, it was ineffective. A year after her diagnosis, she had a single mastectomy and underwent courses of chemotherapy and radiation followed by reconstructive surgery.
RELATED VIDEO: Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, gives an overview of treatment options for advanced breast cancer
After facing cancer, Doherty's relationship with her body changed. "I love that my body is strong and that it has the ability to fight something like cancer," she said. "Importantly, my perception of sexy has changed. For me now, sexy is strength. Sexy is vulnerability. Sexy is compassion. Sexy is grace. Why should I care so much about the physical shell?"
At the time she acknowledged that the treatment had caused her to enter menopause, making pregnancy impossible without taking hormone pills. She decided against it due to fear that estrogen levels can increase the chance of cancer returning.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
