Shannen Doherty Offers Glimpse Of Her Breast Cancer Journey In New Photos

Shannen Doherty has opened up about her cancer journey since revealing last year the disease had returned.

On Thursday, the actress took to Instagram to share images of her breast cancer journey, offering fans a look into her life as a patient. The "Beverly Hills 90210" alum was re-diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer after entering remission in 2017.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she shared with her fans what she called “my own personal journey from my first diagnosis to my second.”

“Is it all pretty? No, but it’s truthful and my hope in sharing is that we all become more educated, more familiar with what cancer looks like,” she wrote. “I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular checkups, to cut thru the fear and face whatever might be in front of you.”

Doherty said she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, after which she had a mastectomy, and then underwent chemotherapy and radiation.

“I had many nose bleeds from the chemo. Not sure if any of you experienced this. I also was beyond tired. I cheered myself up by putting on funny pajamas that my friend Kristy gave me. Did they actually cheer me up? Yes!! Lol, I looked ridiculous and in that ridiculousness I was able to laugh at myself,” she said, adding that finding humor helped her get through “what seemed impossible.”

“I hope we all find humor in the impossible,” she concluded her post, before adding “#breastcancerawareness.”

The post, which included a photo of her with a bloodied tissue stuck up her nostril and another photo of her wearing Cookie Monster pajamas while sleeping with a mask, has earned at least 215,000 likes and more than 11,000 comments.

During a virtual panel for her new movie “List of a Lifetime,” Doherty said she feels she has the responsibility to break misconceptions about her disease.

“I feel like I have a responsibility in my more public life, which I separate from my acting life, to talk about cancer and perhaps educate people more and let people know that people with stage 4 are very much alive and very active,” she said.