Shannen Doherty’s cancer diagnosis has made her marriage stronger

Shannen Doherty revealed that she wouldn’t be able to survive her intense cancer treatment if it wasn’t for the ongoing support of her husband, Kurt Iswarienko. Doherty, 45, was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2015 and has been battling it alongside her spouse.

She shared: “I could not have gotten through this without my husband. My marriage was always strong, but it’s made my marriage a thousand times stronger. He’s never missed a chemo. He’s never missed a sick day.”

The actress recently revealed that her cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, forcing her to undergo up to eight rounds of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy in the future.

Doherty shared more details with Entertainment Tonight, explaining how “horrible” it felt to call her husband and talk about the situation.

“I called him, which was horrible of me. I was in the car. I was with my mom, and the doctor called me and I’m, you know, ‘I’m going to wait until I see him,’ and I just couldn’t. So I picked up the phone and I called him and he was like, ‘Where are you?’” Iswarienko was impatiently waiting on the driveway as she arrived home that day, immediately offering all the support she needed.

He] hugged me and said, ‘We are going to get through this. You are going to be OK. We are going to get through this, you’re strong and you’re powerful and you’re not going anywhere. You have so much to do in your life. We are going to get through it as a family,’” she explained.

She also took the time to thank her mother Rosa for her undivided attention and support, adding: “Thank God she is there. She is so strong, and my mom is like a Steel Magnolia. She is a Southern girl and she puts on this very strong face with me. She is constantly looking stuff up and, you know, she will force-feed me Gatorade chips. Her and my husband tag team.”