Shannen Doherty Says She's Preparing for Death ... Giving Away Personal Items

[Coventina]

Shannen Doherty firmly believes science can help her defeat cancer, but for her mother's sake ... she's still preparing for death by getting rid of her material possessions.

The "Beverly Hills, 90210" actress shared the revelation on Monday's episode of her 'Let's Be Clear' podcast ... where she detailed cleaning out her storage unit after realizing her personal items were a burden to her loved ones.

As SD put it ... she is prioritizing her mother Rosa's needs during this time -- wanting to leave little behind for her to deal with in the event she loses her fight with stage 4 cancer.

She added ... "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."

https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/02/shannen-doherty-prep-death-give-belongings-cancer-battle/

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Fuck cancer.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. That is hearbreaking.

[Sanity Claws]

2. I hope she is at peace

It sounds like she is accepting of death, if it comes soon.

[Botany]

3. I just lost a friend to breast cancer last year.

Once it has metastasized and the woman has cancer nodules in her ribs things will
be rough on her.

[MotownPgh]

8. Jan 2023

She announced it had metastasized to her brain last year.

[calimary]

15. Welcome to DU, MotownPgh.

Glad you're here. Especially if you've got grieving on your mind.

Sometimes ya just need moral support.

[pfitz59]

4. I wish more would do this

Americans are hoarders. Too much junk gathering dust. Very little of value. Sell it. Recycle it. Give it away. Compost it. Stop hoarding. She is doing her part for all the right reasons. End her life at peace with no burden on the living.

[NJCher]

16. in total agreement with you

I am doing the same right now and I have no intention of kicking the bucket for quite some time. It takes time, however, to responsibly get rid of things. If we could compost everything, I would love it!

Also, I learned from handling my aunt's estate that you need all these documents (will, trust, etc.) and a plan, too. Looking at around $4000 for the total. Not sure I'm going to spend that much, so I'm getting competitive estimates.

[CrispyQ]

27. My sister & I spent 17 days cleaning out my mother's 3-bedroom place over a summer.

We met at least once a week, sometimes twice a week. After the first weeks we called for a special trash pick up there was so much that was just garbage.

I'm in the process of getting rid of my stuff too, not cuz I'm sick but I am getting older & I don't need it & it's time to lighten the load. It's amazing what you can't even give away there's so much STUFF floating all around everywhere.

[barbtries]

5. i hope i can be so unselfish.

though we would be talking about my children as opposed to a parent.

i hope she recovers nonetheless, but it sounds as if she fully expects to pass away before her mother. hate that for both of them

[Elessar Zappa]

6. You said it!

I fucking hate cancer. All the countries of the world should unite in a research project to cure cancer that would make the Manhattan Project look puny. Better than that money going to war or billionaire’s tax cuts.

[DENVERPOPS]

29. Several doctors

have told me there is no interest by Big Pharma in finding a cure, there is a ton more money in treating it.........

[Maru Kitteh]

33. Then several doctors you know are fuggin idiots or

much more likely, they were nodding politely and saying what they know you want to hear. Can we please approach this with a little less tinfoil and a bit more logic please?

1) "Cancer" is not one thing and therefore cannot be vanquished by one kind of treatment. At least not yet.
2) Contrary to the picture you paint, researchers are humans - humans who have watched their own abuelas and fathers and sometimes their own children die from the disease. They are not monsters gleefully salivating over your.insurance card.
3) You have to treat something to cure it.
4) We are at the nascent stages of true modern medicine. Our true understanding of the human body is in many ways, pitifully crude. We don't even really know exactly how Tylenol works. True story.

[kcr]

35. Woo woo alert n/t

[JoseBalow]

7. I had to deal with a hoarder's estate after their death

To say it was "a burden" would be a gross understatement. It was a nightmare!

Swedish death cleaning is a well-known concept in Swedish and Scandinavian culture, where you work on eliminating unnecessary items from your home, so loved ones won't be burdened with the task after you pass.

Swedish death cleaning

[Ziggysmom]

9. Fuck cancer!! My bestie had breast cancer treatment 5 years ago with surgery, chemo and radiation.

She is past the 5 year survival mark and we celebrated that big time. But as often goes, there was a cost for the cure. The chemotherapy damaged nerves and she has fairly severe neuropathy in both feet. The radiation to her chest has caused esophageal inflammation and atrial fibrillation.

Fuck all diseases and illness!

[TheProle]

10. Cancer is a scourge. Another reason to vote for Biden

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshot/

[calimary]

17. Ooooooo, something to put in the resources section of our Call to Action email!

That's the one my Indivisible group issues every week. I'm a writer/editor. Might be nice to include this link in our reference section.


TheProle (2,106 posts)
10. Cancer is a scourge. Another reason to vote for Biden
Reply to Coventina (Original post)
Tue Apr 2, 2024, 02:34 PM

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshot/

[MontanaMama]

11. My parents died young

and left a huge home for my sister and me to clean out. It was just awful. It took 5 months of every single weekend and day off to get the house on the market. We sold it a day before the homeowners insurance was going to double because it was empty.

Ms. Doherty is giving her family a gift with this effort. I’m sorry to hear she is losing this battle. She’s fought cancer for a long time.

[Kath2]

14. I lost my significant other on March 9.

I am so broken. Seeing this act of love means a lot to me. She couldn't let go of things. Now I have to pass then on.

[Nevilledog]

20. I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Kath2]

21. Thank you.

I just came back to DU, which she loved.

[Nevilledog]

24. You'll find a lot of support here. This community helped me so much when I lost loved ones.

There's always someone willing to listen.

[MontanaMama]

32. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry for your loss, Kath2.

When a loved one leaves us, what’s left behind is stuff and memories. It’s the stuff that is so hard to figure out. My heart is with you.

[spanone]

12. FC👍🏼

[Norbert]

13. Hoping for a miracle

This is so sad.

[NJCher]

18. I don't think it's sad

It's just a transition. She is being very considerate. We should all emulate her actions.

[Elessar Zappa]

41. It's a transition but it's still sad for her family and fans.

[GiqueCee]

19. I lost...

... two family members and many friends to the Big C and survived my own go-round with prostate cancer only because it was caught early. But getting one's junk bombarded with radiation 5 days a week for 6 months has permanent side effects. Don't ever get between me and a bathroom.
I'm so sorry for Shannon and her family.

[magicarpet]

30. Don't ever wear Docker's khaki sports pants,...

..... black pants only in your wardrobe is really the best bet.

Hear ya,.. don't clog my path to the bathroom, particularly if it is an emergency dash.

[GiqueCee]

31. I have lots of black pants...

... and they say black is slimming, but I think I need a darker shade.

[FakeNoose]

22. All the money the US has spent on war machines and weapons

... but we could have found the cure for cancer - many different cancers - for way less cost. I blame our generation and I'm a baby boomer, for letting this misdirection of priorities happen on our watch. The cure(s) for cancer(s) will be found, and it's going to happen soon. But sadly it will be with no thanks to us.

Both of my parents died of the Big C, and 3 of my 4 grandparents also died of it. It's an awful horrible disease, but it could have been beaten if the country's priorities dictated it. We looked the other way while the country's priorities to got twisted, when we could have made a difference.

Baby boomers protested the war in Vietnam and it ended. We protested civil rights and women's rights, but we never gave a shit about death by cancer. Too many for-profit hospitals and medical clinics have figured out how to rake in profits from cancer treatments. That's why it isn't a priority in our lifetime.

[walkingman]

26. I agree with you. Our priorities seem to always be about power and money. ☮

[DFW]

36. Early detection is vital

My wife had a cancer called "Der Mörder--the Murderer" here in Germany. It is ALWAYS fatal unless discovered in its initial stages, which it never is, since it is completely silent, giving no indication it is there until it is far too late to cure. The only reason she was that one in ten thousand that survived is because her "murderer" was detected during a routine exam that was only conducted because she had been treated for breast cancer fifteen years before.

If total cancer screening were as routine as going to the dentist for a cleaning and checkup (i.e. not pleasant, but necessary), a LOT more people would survive it.

My parents and all their siblings had cancer, so my siblings and I know it's probably not "if" but "when" with us. No one is really ever "ready" or "prepared" to hear the diagnosis, but if and when it comes, the one thing you DO want to hear is "I think we have caught it in time." We will never be free of the fear until such a day that thorough cancer screening becomes as routine as a teeth cleaning. It'll be horribly expensive at first, until the equipment and training become as commonplace as giving a urine sample, but that is exactly what is needed. The profit center for cancer needs to be moved from treatment to prevention. If it becomes more worthwhile to prevent it than to treat it, then that is what will happen, especially if the financial penalty for a false diagnosis due to blatant negligence is loss of license.

[Lilaclady]

23. Death Cleaning

I learned of death cleaning shortly after my mother’s death at age 100. She lived in the same house for 62 years. Her closets were full. There were boxed dolls under several beds and one room was almost impossible to walk through. Shortly after that experience I started cleaning. Sunday when three of our adult grandsons visited we cleaned out my husband’s western boot collection along with the hats. It was actually fun to watch the guys trade boots or barter for a particular hat. We took a family photo with them along with their parents and a fiancé all wearing those hats. I understand her reasoning.

[iluvtennis]

25. You said it- Fk cancer. n/t

[BlueKota]

28. She is a very talented actress, and it's so sad about the cancer

My Mom was a hoarder so my sister and I, went through having to sort through all her stuff. My two Aunt's were hoarders too so our cousins also had to do the same when their Mom's died.

Neither my sister or I had kids, but since we are both in our sixties we are trying to sort through our stuff while we still have the energy to do it, so whomever we end up leaving our stuff to doesn't have to do the same.

[BigmanPigman]

34. I am an extremely sentimental person

and the emotional toll it would take for me to throw cherished items away would be bad for me. I have been dealing with this thought for 4 years and I know my disposition. The dumbest, smallest items are cherished in my memories. The tiny shiny stone I got at Crystal Cave, my old dogs' baby teeth, etc. Silly, meaningless items to anyone else on the planet are treasures to me.

I have already told my family (which is not sentimental at all) that my friend will go through my things after I die and I already discussed it with her. My family is glad they won't have to go through my stuff. I just can not part with my memories easily.

[twodogsbarking]

37. Cancer. She has been so strong.

[Hugin]

38. That's a very caring and difficult gesture she's making...

I know.

I’ve been doing a similar thing, even though I don’t currently have any conditions other than the unrelenting ticking of a clock.

* fist raised in compassion *

[Wild blueberry]

39. Loving gift to her mother

Sending good thoughts to all who are suffering.
Every day is a good day.
Thank you.

[ForgedCrank]

40. I'm getting

older, but something finally occurred to me similar last year when I had an uncle pass away, my mothers little brother.
There were few people left in his circle, so my mom asked me to help her sort his belongings.
I spend several days going through his stuff, trying to find things that would be important to my mom, photos, legal documents, etc. Plus all of his other belongings.
For the first time in my life, it hit me. All of this stuff that I am accumulating is almost all worthless to anyone but myself. People I leave behind one day, probably my children, will be faced with this awful task. The guilt of throwing away things that were saved and obviously important to the one passed on, but things that no one else is interested in or has space to store for no good reason.
It bought up a lot of emotions for some reason. Things such as what our legacy will really be, and the sadness we leave behind. It's all just mostly junk to others and will be discarded or sold for pennies just to get rid of it.
Our stuff is nothing. All of these tools, furniture, all of it. It's not a legacy nor a memory when we are gone. It's just junk.
Love your family and spend more time with them, that is the only legacy you will have. Make it a good one.

[catchnrelease]

42. Re Death Cleaning

I asked for and my husband got me a little book called 'Nobody Wants Your Sh*t, the art of decluttering before you die' by Messie Condo. It's kind of a play on the Marie Condo decluttering fad. It's done with humor and a LOT of swear words, so if that kind of thing offends you, best avoid it. It does have lots of practical advice though, from saving/purging 'valuable family heirlooms' to documents and even computer files. A quick and useful read for someone that needs a little push/help to get rid of 'stuff'.