Shannen Doherty is sharing her story to help shed light on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Charmed alum, who publicly shared her stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis in February 2020, posted two photos of herself to Instagram on Oct. 7.
"For breast cancer awareness month, I'd like to share more of my own personal journey from my first diagnosis to my second," she captioned the post. "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. 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 was first diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and underwent surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Two years later, in 2017, she announced she had gone into remission. In 2019, she disclosed to her loved ones that her cancer had returned and publicly shared the news last year.
Referring to the first photo, which shows the actress lying in bed, tending to a bloody nose, she continued, "I had many nose bleeds from the chemo. Not sure if any of you experienced this. I also was beyond tired."
In the second photo, Doherty is seen lying down in Cookie Monster pajamas, complete with a matching eye mask. "I cheered myself up by putting on funny pajamas that my friend Kristy gave me," she added. "Did they actually cheer me up? Yes!! Lol. I looked ridiculous and, in that ridiculousness, I was able to laugh at myself. Finding humor helped get me thru what seemed impossible. I hope we all find humor in the impossible. #breastcancerawareness."
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum also opened up about her cancer battle during a Sept. 14 virtual panel for her new film, List of a Lifetime.
"I feel like I have a responsibility in my more public life, which I separate from my acting life," Doherty shared, according to People. "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."
When asked about having a "bucket list," she responded, "I'm very much like, ‘There's no bucket list,' because I'm going to be the longest-living person with cancer. If I had to say one, it would just be living. That's the only thing on my list at this point."