Shannen Doherty 'Thankful' To 'Be Here' For Christmas Amid Battle With Stage 4 Cancer

Hollywood actress Shannen Doherty is "thankful" to see the end of 2023 amid her battle with stage 4 cancer. In the latest episode of her podcast, she got candid about spending time with her loved ones and how grateful she is to have them in her life.

Doherty, who has been open and transparent amid her cancer battle, revealed during the show that she scheduled her chemotherapy treatment so she would be "recovered" from it for the Christmas holiday.

"Charmed" star Doherty opened up about how happy she was to get to the end of the year, surrounded by a supportive and loving family.

While speaking on the Christmas episode of her podcast, "Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty," the actress, alongside her mother, Rosa, stated, "We get to spend time with the people that are by our sides through thick and thin."

She spoke highly of her loved ones, branding them as people "who don't walk away, who love us unconditionally, and that have the same beliefs and morals and standards and … character."

Doherty said that she's "thankful, really, to be here for it" and noted that she "got to schedule" her chemo infusion treatment just so she "would be recovered completely from it for Christmas."

The 52-year-old star revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, but it went into remission in 2017. Unfortunately, the cancer returned worse in 2019, and in June this year, 2023, Doherty revealed that she had to undergo surgery in January to remove a brain tumor.

She posted a video on her Instagram page, giving fans a glimpse of what it looked like for her during her radiation treatment. Doherty's caption at the time read, "January 12, 2023. On January 5th, my CT scan showed Mets in my brain. Yesterdays video was showing the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation to your brain."

The actress continued, "January 12, the first round of radiation took place. My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life. I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at Cedar Sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like."

Doherty declared during a recent interview that she is "not done living" and plans to "embrace life" amid her cancer battle.

"I'm not done with living. I'm not done with loving. I'm not done with creating. I'm not done with hopefully changing things for the better," the actress stated during a chat with People magazine last month.

She continued, "When you ask yourself, 'Why me? Why did I get cancer?' and then, 'Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?' that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life."

The actress is optimistic about her chances of beating cancer and hopes to use her voice to raise awareness of the disease while also helping raise funds for cancer research. "It's insane to me [that] we still don't have a cure," she told the news outlet.

During her interview, Doherty talked about her brain surgery, jokingly naming the tumor that was removed, "Bob."

She said, "He had to get removed and dissected to see his pathology. It was definitely one of the scariest things I've ever been through in my entire life."

Doherty slammed the misconceptions about people with cancer being unable to "walk," "eat," or "work," noting that the opposite is the case, as they tend to be "vibrant" with a different outlook on life.

She stated, "People just assume that it means you can't walk, you can't eat, you can't work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age — 'You're done, you're retired,' and we're not. We're vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward."

The actress noted that her "greatest memory is yet to come," and that she hopes to "wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to [her] without asking for too much."

According to Doherty, when one has cancer, they become "more aware of everything" and "feel so blessed."

She added, "We're the people who want to work the most, because we're just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here."