Shannen Dohertyis opening up about why she waited to share the news of her cancer diagnosis with the world.

In an interview with ABC News that aired onGood Morning AmericaTuesday, theBeverly Hills, 90210actress revealed she was nowbattling stage 4 breast cancer, after previously announcing she was in remission in 2017.

On Wednesday, Doherty, 48,shared more details about her healthwith ABC’sAmy Robachin an emotional segment where she said aside from not wanting to tell people about her cancer because of the death of her friend and costar,Luke Perry,in March 2019, shekept the news to herselffor the fear of being treated differently.

“Work dries up,” Doherty added. “Ienjoy working, and working givesme just another reason to wake up every morning. It’s another reason to fight to stay alive.”

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TheHeathersactress learned her cancer returned after she started “feeling some very odd aches.” It prompted her to call her oncologist, who urged her to come in for a check.

“In the back of your head, you are always expecting that this is gonna happen,” Doherty said. “But I definitely also, in another way, also convinced myself that I had beaten it. I was the true warrior, I was the true survivor.”

As far as keepingwith her history of being openon social media about how she’s handling the day-to-day parts of battling cancer, the star said, “I don’t know. I don’t post a lot anymore, and I also don’t want to be a bummer.”

“And yes, I want to positive, and yes, I want to be a beacon light for other people — or at least somebody that people can relate to and [with whom they can] have an honest conversation and talk about how hard it is. I do want to be raw and honest about it,” she added.

Shannen Doherty.LISA O’CONNOR/AFP/Getty

Shannen Doherty

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In the interview that aired Tuesday, where Doherty first told Robach that her cancer had returned, the actress said, “I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”

“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?'” theCharmedalum said of the development in her health. “And then I go, ‘Well, whynotme? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”

“One of the reasons, along with Luke, that I did90210and didn’t really tell anybody [was] because I thought, people can look at that [as] people with stage 4 can work too,” she explained in the interview.

Doherty added, “Our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do.”

source: people.com