Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Baby2BabyShannen Doherty is using her first late-night appearance since 2015 to open up about her breast cancer battle.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum has been documenting her fight against breast cancer on social media, showing her followers her chemo treatments, her post-chemo workouts and the strength she has received from her family and friends. But in her first late-night interview since receiving her diagnosis, Doherty tells Chelsea Handler about everything she has learned since learning of her disease.
"I think what's beautiful and hard and interesting about cancer is that it tears you down and builds you, and tears you down and builds you," Doherty says.
"It remakes you so many different times. The person I thought I was supposed to be or was going to be or who I thought I was six months ago is now somebody completely different. I realize 'Wow, I really thought that I was so brave and so gracious this entire time and really I was just hiding.'"
Doherty has credited her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, for helping her get through her toughest times, but now she says she sometimes feels guilty about having cancer change her. "This was very hard and not humbling – because I've already been humbled by cancer," says Doherty. "It was hard in the sense of rethinking sort of who you are and how you come to terms with who are now and accepting it and looking at your husband and thinking like, 'Dude, I'm so sorry.'"
As the actress continues to publicly document her battle in the hopes of inspiring others, Doherty always make sure to show her gratitude to her husband and friends.
"He loves me with pink hair or no hair," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm blessed to have such a strong support team starting with @kurtiswarienko who loves me more every second. Can't imagine my life without him."
She continued, "Cancer is not pleasant but it can bring out the best in relationships or the worse. Thankfully, it has made our marriage stronger."