Shannen Doherty’s eight-year battle with breast cancer has not been simple. She recently updated her followers on Instagram on her health, writing, “Early morning doctors visit for scans.”

“With drooping eyelids. My hair was a mess, but the fresh bandage wraps cheered my day!” She uploaded the picture along with the caption “#cancerslayer” and pink bandages.

Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after discovering a lump in her breast. She had to undergo radiation, chemotherapy, and a single mastectomy after some time on hormone therapy.

Doherty’s cancer went into remission in 2017. In February 2020, stage IV breast cancer, unfortunately, came back. The illness has also damaged other parts of her body.

Breast cancer can be classified into stages ranging from 0 to IV, with higher numbers indicating a more invasive form of the disease or how far cancer has spread from the original tumor.

Stage 0 indicates a disease that is benign or contained within the milk ducts, while stage IV (also known as metastatic breast cancer, which is the stage Doherty is in) shows that cancer has spread to other regions of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.

More than 150,000 breast cancer survivors are living with metastatic disease in the US, according to the American Cancer Society.

Despite the fact that metastatic breast cancer is frequently fatal, research has revealed that the average lifespan of those who have been diagnosed with the disease has increased dramatically as a result of technological breakthroughs.

Doherty appeared in the television movies List of a Lifetime and Dying to Belong last year as a way to get through these trying years of cancer treatment.

The actress has discussed many elements of her struggle with cancer on social media throughout the years, including her experiences with chemotherapy.

In a post she wrote in October of last year on her battle with breast cancer, she also admitted to her readers: “I endured many nose bleeds following the treatment.”

I’m not sure whether any of you have encountered this. I was also exhausted. To cheer myself up, I changed into some amusing pajamas that my friend Kristy had given me.

“Have they really helped me feel better? Yes!! Lol. I was able to make fun of myself because I thought I was foolish. I was able to go through what seemed impossible by laughing. We can all chuckle at the impossibility, I believe.