Living with Cancer
- Shannen Doherty celebrated National Margarita Day with best pal Sarah Michelle Gellar yesterday after a shopping trip with mom in Malibu. She’s continuing to live her best life while battling stage 4 cancer.
- Doherty has leaned heavily on both women throughout her cancer journey, posting frequently on how the two women ihelp lift her up. “Mom, I am so lucky and truly honored I get to call you ‘mom.’ You are a beacon of light, endless well of support and love and one of my favorite humans. I love you so much,” she said recently on Instagram.
- Stage 4 breast cancer survivor and doctor Kelly Shanahan reminds women living with the disease that they are not a statistic. “I know that this is a terminal disease, but somebody has to be the exceptional responder,” she says.
The Beverly Hills 90210 star, 49, who has shared her ups and downs with the disease on social media, appears to be feeling well this week, enjoying a drink with friends and shopping with her mom.
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Doherty and Gellar appear frequently on each other’s social media pages doing things like cooking together, basking in the sun, and indulging in impressive wine challenges on social media. Overall, Doherty refers to Gellar as one of her greatest supporters and someone who continuously makes her smile.
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Leaning on Mom
Doherty is also close with her mom, Rosa Elizabeth Doherty, and the Daily Mail featured pics of the mother-daughter duo shopping together yesterday in Malibu. Doherty looked comfy chic in neutral colored loungewear paired with white Converse sneakers, holding an orange shopping bag.
In December, Doherty honored her mother on Instagram, featuring a photo of the two. “Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. I didn't post cause I was too busy spending a wonderful day with her,” she writes. “Mom, I am so lucky and truly honored I get to call you ‘mom.’ You are a beacon of light, endless well of support and love and one of my favorite humans. I love you so much.”
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“Sometimes there’s nothing like a mother’s love to help get you thru,” Doherty wrote in a past post during her first round with cancer in 2016. “Thank you mom for always being there and being so strong for me. I love you,” she captioned a photo of her mother holding her in her lap after Doherty shaved her head.
Managing Advanced Stage Breast Cancer
People living with advanced stage breast cancer, or any cancer, know that every day can be different, physically and emotionally. Taking advantage of the good days by socializing with friends and family, or going on outings is one strategy for assisting with your mental health, according to survivors.
Management of Metastatic Breast Cancer
You are Not a Statistic
Another way to stay positive during a battle with cancer, and specifically, advanced stage cancer, is to remember that you are not a statistic.
Kelly Shanahan has metastatic breast cancer and she is a doctor, so although she has heard all of the stats, she doesn't live by those numbers. “One thing that I am grateful for my original oncologist is when I walked into the room with him and I sat down, he looked me straight in the eyes. And he said, ‘Kelly, I know you know the statistics. You are not a statistic,” Shanahan tells SurvivorNet. “I might live two months, I might live 25 years. And I’m going for that 25 years.
Shanahan says that statistics apply to large populations, not individuals. “I know that this is a terminal disease, but somebody has to be the exceptional responder,” she says. “Somebody has to be the person that exceeds those expectations, and I hope that that will be me. My greatest hope lies with research, because I know that the only thing that is going to save my life and the life of my fellow sisters and brothers with metastatic breast cancer is research.”
Metastatic Breast Cancer You Are Not a Statistic
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