A warrior with or without the wig. Shannen Doherty walked the red carpet at a Stand Up to Cancer event in Los Angeles on Friday, September 9, and the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum said she was “humbled” by the experience.
“This night meant so much to so many people including myself,” she captioned an Instagram shot of herself at the event, holding up a sign reading “#Reasons2StandUp.” “I’m forever humbled by the stories I heard tonight and the people I met. Thank you to all the amazing volunteers and crew that made this event happen. Thank you to everybody at @su2c who are so dedicated in trying to find a cure and give people with cancer better alternatives. I feel blessed to be a part of the cancer family tonight and to of witnessed such love. #su2c.”
Doherty’s friend Sarah Michelle Gellar later reposted the image with a touching caption: “I know it’s not #mondaymuse or anything like that, but I had to share. My friend @theshando has to be the bravest girl I know. Not only is she standing up to cancer, she is giving it a run for its money. She had chemo this week, but was still front and center raising awareness and money. It takes a strong #Shando to share her struggle so publicly, but she is doing it in the hopes to inspire others to fight this horrible disease. There are not enough words in any thesaurus to truly describe how proud I am of this woman #fuckcancer.”
The 45-year-old actress, who revealed in August that her cancer had spread from her breasts to her lymph nodes, remained positive at the event, which she attended with her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, and her oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Piro.
“I’ve been given a really interesting opportunity and one that, in a way, I kind of feel blessed,” Doherty told Entertainment Tonight. “Cancer has in a strange way done some amazing things for me. It’s allowed me to be more me, like, much more in touch with who I am, and much more vulnerable and the person that I always was, but I think it got hidden behind a lot of other stuff.”
Among the good things to come of her diagnosis, Doherty said, was a renewed appreciation for her husband, who has been her rock throughout her treatment. “My marriage was always fantastic,” she said, “but it’s even better now.”
Piro told ET that Doherty’s cancer treatment is going well, and that, in fact, the actress is almost done with some of the bigger treatments.
“Shannen is doing amazing,” Piro told the site. “We have just a few more weeks of treatment, and then we’ll be nearly finished with the chemotherapy.”
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015, and underwent a single mastectomy this past May.
