Shannen Doherty Bravely Documents Shaving Her Head

When I hear the name Shannen Doherty, I think Brenda Walsh. I can’t help it. I grew up watching Beverly Hills 90210 and reading all the tabloid gossip that went along with her well-documented bad girl reputation.

But late yesterday, I stumbled across something that stopped me in my tracks. It was the same face that I’ve watched on countless reruns of 90210 and Charmed, but this time it wasn’t a bad girl looking back at me. It was a scared and vulnerable woman baring her soul and sharing what must easily be the most challenging battle she’s ever faced.

Shannen announced in September last year that that she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She later opened up about the possibility of surgery in her future, including a mastectomy. “Ultimately, they’re just breasts, right?” she said. “I mean, I love them, they’re mine, they’re beautiful, but in the grand scheme of things, I would rather be alive and I would rather grow old with my husband.”

A pretty remarkable perspective from someone whose career relies on an industry where beauty is so often the goal above all else.

Unfortunately, it’s highly likely that someone in our lives will be touched by the demon that is breast cancer. My grandma had a mastectomy in her early 60s, and with all the talk about how big a part genetics plays when it comes to cancer, this knowledge was enough to scare the living shit out of me when I found a lump in my right breast in my mid-20s.

After a visit to the doctor who agreed that the hard, pea-shape form in my breast was a concern, I had to endure an agonising weekend before I got the results. That 48 hours of waiting and wondering was fresh hell, so you can imagine my relief when I learned the lump was benign. Thank FUCK. I still went ahead with a surgery to remove the little bastard on doctor’s advice, but I remember sitting in the hospital thinking how different that experience must be for women knowing that they have cancer invading their bodies. Wondering how on earth women like my grandma sit there with the fear and knowledge that there is cancer in their body and that they will have to fight like hell to survive.

Cancer is a son of a bitch. It doesn’t discriminate based on age, marital or financial status. It is cruel and relentless and it is estimated that each person has a roughly 1 in 3 chance of being diagnosed with some form of cancer before their 85th birthday.

In what many people have seen as a pre-emptive strike against the effects of chemo, Shannen undertook the courageous step to cut and then shave her raven locks in a series of personal photos, which she then chose to share on her Instagram.

Supported by her mum Rosa, and friend Anne Kortright-Shilstat, Shannen documented each step in a number of emotional black and white photos, before bravely revealing her new look. Friend Anne wrote: “I couldn’t be prouder of you today. Your strength and courage is so inspiring and I am so very lucky to have you in my life. Thank you for blindly trusting me today to help you with such a big step. I will forever be there for you no matter what. #fuckcancer”

Shannen reportedly has a very aggressive form of metastasizing cancer which is already in her lymph nodes, meaning she has a pretty big fight on her hands.

She is brave, she is beautiful and I hope she kicks her cancer’s ass.

Because if I’ve learnt anything from Brenda Walsh, it’s that you can’t keep a good bitch down.

Republished with permission from the funny ladies behind Show + Tell.