Doherty Remembers Her BFF Who Passed from Cancer
- Shannen Doherty, 49, remembers on Instagram her late best friend, Deborah Waknin-Harwin, who passed from cancer last year.
- Doherty is currently battling metastatic breast cancer, her second bout with the disease; she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and underwent a mastectomy.
- Coping with the loss of a loved one to cancer can be devastating; resources like therapy may help ease the pain of the process.
Deborah Waknin-Harwin, the actress’s stylist and friend for nearly three decades, died from cancer last year.
Read MoreIn a new post on Instagram, Doherty shared a photo of the pair, saying, “1 year today and it still hurts I miss my friend.”
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Shannen’s Cancer Battle
Doherty isn’t just mourning a cancer loss, but she’s currently fighting the disease. Doherty's breast cancer battle began in 2015 after finding a lump in her breast, which turned out to be cancerous. The actress had hormone therapy to fight the cancer, but it was rendered ineffective because the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
Doherty had a single mastectomy, and she also had chemotherapy and radiation. Surgery is a common treatment path for many people facing breast cancer. In an earlier interview, Dr. Ann Partridge, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute says, "When I talk to a woman who comes to me and she has breast cancer, I evaluate what the standard options for treatment for her are."
Related: Aggressive Breast Cancer in Young Women
"[Options] typically include cutting out the cancer which is either a lumpectomy if you can get it all with just a little scooping around of the area that's abnormal, or a mastectomy for some women meaning taking the full breast because sometimes these lesions can be very extensive in the breast," says Dr. Partridge. "And I'll talk to a woman about that and I'll say these are two main options or the big fork in the road."
Doherty went into remission after treatment, but in February 2020, the actress shared that her breast cancer returned and it was at an advanced stage. The cancer had spread to other parts of her body.
When Should You Consider a Mastectomy?
Coping with the Loss of a Loved One to Cancer
Dealing with the loss of a loved one to cancer is difficult, and grief takes time to work through. Many people find comfort and support from resources like therapy.
Camila Legaspi was in high school when her mother passed from breast cancer, and she she says that therapy allowed her to survive that difficult period. In an earlier interview, Legaspi says, “Therapy saved my life. I was dealing with some really intense anxiety and depression at that point. It just changed my life, because I was so drained by all the negativity that was going on.”
Legaspi says that therapy helped her keep perspective, too. “Going to a therapist helped me realize that there was still so much out there for me, that I still had my family, that I still had my siblings. The reality is, is when you lose someone, it’s really, really, really hard,” she says. “And it’s totally OK to talk to someone. And I’m so happy that I talked to my therapist. Keep your chin up, and it’s going to be OK. No matter what happens, it’s going to be OK. There are so many of us that have gone through the same thing that you’re going through. And, together, we’re all going to get through it.”
"Therapy Saved My Life": After Losing A Loved One, Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help
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