How long does Shannen Doherty have to live?
A better question may be, is Shannen Doherty giving up? The answer: hell no!
And yet, as they saying goes, she’s planning for the worst.
How long she has to live after being diagnosed with breast cancer is unclear, so in order to help those she loves with an “easier transition” after her death, she’s taking a few drastic measures.
Shannen Doherty ‘Downsizing’ Her Stuff Amid Breast Cancer Battle ‘Just In Case’
The celebrated star of Charmed and 90210‘s cancer battle is a common topic on her podcast, Let’s Be Clear.
Her candid conversations vary from lighthearted reminiscing about her youth to plans for her funeral to sending love to Kate Middleton, who revealed her own cancer diagnosis in 2024.
However, in April 2024, Shannen shared some hard truths about what’s to come. No matter when, the fact is that Shannen will die, and sooner than anyone in her orbit will want.
In her podcast, she revealed that her biggest fear is leaving her mother, Rosa. Not only leaving her alone, but also leaving her with all the stuff she’s accumulated in her life.
“My priority at the moment is my mom,” Shannen said during the heartbreaking episode of her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast. “I know it’s going to be hard on her if I pass away before her.”
She continued, “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. I don’t want her to have four storage units filled with furniture.”
For fans who don’t know, Shannen has a property she bought in Tennessee that she hope to turn into a home for her mother and her to live together in. She revealed that her big dreams have mounted to four storage units filled with antiques and other items she’s collected over the years.
She has no begun the process of donating and selling off all of these items.
“We were in Tennessee and I was packing up one of the places there,” she continued. “It was really hard and really emotional because to a certain extent — I felt like I was giving up on this dream of building this property out, and putting a house for me and a house for my mom and then extending the barn.”
Despite how hard the process was, Shannen said letting go was “the right thing to do,” knowing it would bring her a sense of “peace.”
How Long Does Shannen Actually Have To Live?
On her first episode back in 2024, she explained that she hopes to stay alive long enough for a medical advancement to debut to beat the disease.
“I always talk about the fact that we just need to squeeze out another three to five years,” Shannen said when she talked about how long she has to live. “And then there’s going to be T-cell therapy or there’s going to be this.”
She added: “There’s going to be a lot more options that will give another five years. Then in those five years, there’s a whole other group of options, and eventually there’s going to be a cure.”
Her Health & What Her Doctor is Saying
Doherty has undergone a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and brain surgery since she was diagnosed with metastatic Stage 4 breast cancer in 2015.
Her cancer went into remission in 2017 but then returned in late 2019, just before the pandemic. Doherty’s oncologist Dr. Lawrence Piro, agreed that more work needs to be done if the actress is to be cured completely.
“I always say that it’s important to think of each therapy as a horse,” Dr. Piro said on the January 1 podcast. “In a horse race, you want to ride every horse as long as it rides, and then you ride the next horse as much as possible. You hope you make it a few laps then there’s altogether another new set of horses to ride, to make the race that much longer.”
“I’m riding those horses so I get to the fresh set of horses,” Doherty replied. “And I’m trying to get the one I’m on right now to last for as long as humanly possible.”
In other words, she knows she’s still got a fight ahead — and she’s ready!
How Is Shannen Doherty Doing Today?
The most recent development in Doherty’s cancer battle is that the disease has spread to her bones.
“I don’t want to die,” the actress said last week to People Magazine during a photo shoot that took place four days before Thanksgiving 2023.
“I’m not done with living,” she added. “I’m not done with loving.”
And then, she shared her most optimistic stance yet. “I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better.”
Along with battling cancer, Doherty is in midst of divorcing her third husband Kurt Iswarienko. After 11 years of marriage, she filed to end things in April 2023.
“Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted,” Doherty’s rep, Leslie Sloane, told PEOPLE in a statement. “Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option.”