Shannen Doherty prepares for death: 'My priority at the moment is my mom'

Since learning her cancer was terminal, Shannen Doherty hasn't stopped fighting. Yet, fully aware of her situation, she's also preparing for her departure, aiming to leave everything in order, especially for her beloved mom.

Last June, the 'Beverly Hills, 90210' star revealed her stage 4 b r e a s t cancer had metastasized to her brain, and she recently disclosed it had spread to her bones.

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In an episode of her podcast, 'Let's Be Clear,' Doherty shared that she's using her time to do everything she wants and to make her mother, Rose Elizabeth's, path easier should the actress pass away first.

Photo: Instagram  / theshando

"Because it's going to be so hard on her, I want other things to be a lot easier. I don't want her to have a bunch of stuff to deal with," she said.

"I don't want her to have four storage units filled with furniture," she said, recognizing that she has been a bit of a hoarder when it comes to furniture.

Photo: Instagram / theshando

So, Doherty has decided to part with many of her belongings. “I’m not enjoying it and others aren’t enjoying it, and do I really need any of it? Do I need? Do I need to have, you know, three dining room tables?” she continued. “And the answer is no. Like, none of us really need all the stuff that we have, and we can all, you know, do with a little bit of downsizing."

“It feels like you’re giving up on something that was very special and important to you,” Doherty explained. “You know that it’s the right thing to do, and you know that it’s going to give you a sense of peace and a sense of calm. And because you’re helping the people that you leave behind just have a cleaner, easier transition.”

And with the money the 'Charmed' actress is earning from selling her possessions, she is traveling with her mom.

Photo: Instagram @theshando

She said experiences now are so much more important than "stuff." “It doesn’t really bring me any great joy, but what does bring me great joy is taking my mom to the places that she's always wanted to go to,” Doherty said.

However, Doherty mentioned she'll only use the money from selling her possessions, not her savings to check off her and her mom's bucket list, as she wants to ensure her loved ones are taken care of financially when she's gone.

Besides the extra money for travel and making it easier for her family, she said the whole experience with downsizing has improved her quality of life.

The actress is getting her affairs in order step-by-step, like deciding a few months ago that she wants her ashes mixed with those of her dog and her father.

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But, even though she's prepared to die, Doherty still wants to live and fights for it every day.

Foto: Instagram / theshando

"I'm not afraid of death," she told People Magazine, saying that she is a spiritual person. "I know where I'm going. I know… the people that I'm gonna see. I think I would be afraid of death if I wasn't a good person. But I am."

Foto: Instagram / theshando

"I'm not done with life. I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with… hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done," she continued in the People interview from November 2023. "My greatest memory is yet to come," she added.

Foto: Instagram / theshando

Just because she has terminal cancer, does not mean she is retreating either. Not only has she been sharing the raw truth on her podcast, but she's raising awareness about cancer.

She lamented that people with cancer are "put out to pasture." " You're, like, done. You're retired. And we're not," she emphasized. "We have such a different outlook on life. We're just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day that we get to be here."

“When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?,’ that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life,” she told People. "It’s insane to me [that] we still don’t have a cure."

Photo: Instagram / theshando

The actress received her first b r e a s t cancer diagnosis in 2015 and underwent a mastectomy, as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In April 2017, she announced the cancer was in remission. Unfortunately, the cancer returned in 2019, and the following year, she revealed her stage 4 metastatic cancer diagnosis.

It has been a tough journey. Last January, she had surgery to remove a tumor that had reached her brain, a fact she made public only in June. She named the tumor Bob. “He had to get removed and dissected to see his pathology,” she said on Instagram. “It was definitely one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through in my entire life.”

Foto: Instagram / theshando

And though things are getting harder every day, the actress is thankful for every day, hour, and second she's still here: "I pray. I wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to me without asking for too much. It connects me to a higher power and spirituality," she told People in November.

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