Shannen Doherty: Breast Cancer + Lawsuit

Shannen Doherty is battling breast cancer, she reveals to PEOPLE exclusively. 

"Yes, I have breast cancer, and I am currently undergoing treatment," the actress said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. 

"I am continuing to eat right, exercise and stay very positive about my life," she continued. "I am thankful to my family, friends and doctors for their support and, of course, my fans who have stood by me."

Shannen, 44, was forced to disclose the illness after legal documents surfaced on celeb news site TMZ, revealing that she was suing her former business manager for failing to pay her insurance premiums, allowing her health insurance to lapse, during which time she did not receive medical care. 

According to the lawsuit, the actress, who is married to photographer Kurt Iswarienko, was first diagnosed in March 2015. She "discovered that she had invasive breast cancer metastatic to at least one lymph node," the lawsuit reveals, and "was informed that her cancer had spread during 2014 (when she was uninsured)." 

Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, and his father's dying wish

I read this yesterday, and I cried.

It's a circle of life story, with a difference.

If you've ever nursed someone in hospital who either has a terminal disease, or in a very serious condition then somehow turns it around to make a full recovery, or already lost a parent, you will really, truly understand the fragility of life.

This story is about actress Kristen Bell, her fiance actor Dax Shepard, and his dying father.

You can read Dax's whole blog post here.

Kristen flew in to surprise Dax and his dying father. And this is what Dax wrote about the experience:

It was an amazing, incredible, perfectly timed surprise. She lifted her shirt up and he put his hand on her swollen stomach. He left it there for the better part of an hour. He was smiling from ear to ear, sitting contently, unable to put together a sentence, but still capable of connecting to the new family member we were creating. He wasn’t going to make it to the birth, but that didn’t get in the way of him meeting the new baby. It was an emotional and triumphant moment. One I will never forget. If I live to be a thousand, I will still be in debt to my wife for giving him that one last thrill.

Here is the accompanying photo Dax posted of the beautiful moment:

Dax calls Kristen his wife in the post, although the couple are still engaged - they have said they won't get married until their gay friends have the same right.

Any parent who has lost their own mother or father before their kids were born or old enough to know grandparents knows what kind of a gaping, deep hole it leaves inside you.

Dax's father has since passed away... but what a gift to give him.

Have you had an experience like this, where a dying family member just met a newborn, or died before a relative's child was born? Share your story below.

Ellen DeGeneres postpones Australian trip

In news just in, Ellen DeGeneres has postponed her much-talked about trip to Australia.

DeGeneres has been tweeting about her illness from LA all week, which led to speculation she would postpone her trip. (But not for long! Read on...)

"Trying to get over a bug before I go to Australia. Nobody wants to be down under the weather," she wrote.

She also tweeted:

Ellen DeGeneres ‏@TheEllenShow

Between my humidifier & Portia making me tea non-stop, there's so much steam coming from our house people think we picked the new Pope.

In a statement just in from Warner Bros:

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show will delay its arrival into Australia by a few days while Ellen recovers from the flu.

Ellen will meet her fans in Sydney later next week, and will then head to Melbourne. More announcements about the trip will be made in coming days."

For more, go here and here.

Are you excited about Ellen's Australian trip?

When she does arrive, we hope she'll be seeing lots of this... 'koaling':

'What Is Love' - William and Glad on love, marriage and dementia: VIDEO

"She's my princess, and I'm her William."

Those words made me bawl when I heard them uttered a week ago on 'A Current Affair', during a special report on dementia. My husband walked in, asked why I was crying. I played the clip back. He understood.

They were said by William, the husband of Glad, and they have been married 50 years. Glad was diagnosed with dementia eight years ago, and devoted husband William has stepped up to take care of her in the most incredible way.

Watch the entire clip here:



And here is William's response to people's reactions to the video above.



William and Glad were profiled tonight on 60 Minutes Australia and the report was beyond moving and emotional. Clip from the show up soon.

This story has also bee published on my 'Sandwich Generation' blog.

Self-harming: a real-life story

Last week I watched 60 Minutes Australia and was glued to the story on self-harming.

It's something I admit to knowing very little about, and I wanted to learn more. Why does someone feel the compulsive need to harm oneself?

Someone has kindly come forward and told their story for this blog, and it's a raw, real, honest account of what happens in the world of someone who self-harms.

"Every time I come across a story on ‘self-harming’ I am physically sick to my stomach. The mere mention triggers memories of intense feelings of guilt and self-loathing. It is a reminder of my ‘dirty secret’. A secret which is hard to forget when I remove my ‘armour’; my 25 year old scars are hidden by the designer watches and bracelets I adorn myself with. As I remove my adornments I feel that very same sense of vulnerability come back, thankfully I accept those feelings and I now know how to deal with them differently.

My first memory of self-harming was at around 12 or 13 years of age. I remember feeling a combined sense of comfort and some kind of adrenaline rush, as I would sneak a razor blade or a knife into my bedroom with me - ‘just in case’.

I have always been a person that feels deeply; I have learnt to accept that is very much who I am. Those close to me often refer to me as being ‘passionate’ and there is no doubt that I am passionate; I feel the emotional peaks and troughs of life completely. When I love, I love completely, when I am sad I am really sad, when I am angry I am livid, when I feel guilt and fear I am paralysed by those emotions. And then there is my old companion, which I call ‘the void’ - an overwhelming sense of emptiness and loneliness that feels larger than life.

In my case it was the intensity of those deep emotions that drove me to ‘cut’. I would lock myself away in my room and dig as deep as I could until the stinging sensation would hurt so bad that I couldn’t feel the emotional pain anymore. There were times I felt like I wanted to physically cut the deep, emotional pain out of my own body. Like any addict [and I was most definitely addicted to this self-destructive, vicious cycle] I learnt to become creative. I remember being asked about the cross cut I had on my ankle at the time that I said was my was my attempt to tattoo myself. I really didn’t care what people thought, as long as I could keep doing it. The physical pain distracted me or numbed me from the emotions I struggled to confront and deal with. When I first started it was mainly my wrists, the feeling of a razor or a knife over my wrist was my way of self-soothing. The physical pain totally masked the emotional pain… well at least it distracted me from those emotions temporarily. When my emotional pain was really profound I would cut deeper; they are the scars that I still have 25 years later. I could feel the emotional pain release as I cut deeper until the numbness would kick in and I could then breathe again; that is until the next day when I would be riddled with guilt and shame.

I often hear about ‘cutters’ being loners or introverts, predominantly girls who did not fit in or were bullied in high school and even more commonly; girls who were sexually abused. I can honestly say I was none of the above. I was academically a high achiever, I was popular, I was an extrovert, I appeared relatively ‘normal’ by teenage standards… that’s the really scary aspect! I kept my cutting a secret for at least two years; it was the 80s and I wore dozens of Madonna-like rubber bracelets that covered my scars. Then, one day in the midst of an emotional crisis, I didn’t care who saw me, so I grabbed my mother’s kitchen knife and locked myself in the bathroom. By the time my mother pried the door open in I was covered in blood and perfectly spaced knife cuts from my wrists to just below my elbows, even in self-destructive mode I strove for perfectionism.

My mother cried as she cleaned me up [the smell of Dettol always reminds me of this moment] and she asked me why I would do ‘this’ to myself. At the time, I really did not know how to answer. Most of the time my family simply viewed me as an ‘attention seeker’ or an ‘un-appreciative spoilt brat’. What I do know now, is that I never really felt good enough [mostly because of the unrealistic goals I set for myself] and although I always had family and friends around me, I somehow always felt different and alone.

After an intense few years in my early to mid-teens I did stop cutting. I convinced myself I was doing okay, because there were no physical scars, but I never really stopped my self-destructive habits or behaviour, I just swapped them for other behavioural habits.

As I noted above, I was and I am a high achiever, so I used my achievements and my popularity to mask the ‘not good enough’ void for many years. After seven years of intense therapy I have really got to understand who I am and what makes me tick. The list of various therapies that my highly skilled psychologist has patiently worked through with me is as long as my arm: Distress Tolerance, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Schema Therapy, have been the most effective therapy styles to assist me in helping myself overcome my self-destructive patterning.

Although I can flip back to unhealthy black and white thinking, I am still highly self-critical and like I said above, I am a person who feels things deeply I am able to understand my behaviour now. During a highly stressful period last year I did cut again, for the first time since my teens. Once again I had to come up with creative ways to hide the cuts that were present from my wrists to my elbows throughout the Christmas period. My husband’s way of dealing with it was to hide all the knives and blades in our house, until my therapist told him it was important that I could prove to myself that I could co-exist in a home with knives and blades. I have and I do not beat myself up over it, because I realise it was a highly stressful period, where I was not able to cope with the intense emotions that felt were enveloping me. I worked through this period with intense therapy and by February I felt like me again.

To say I no longer have any self-destructive habits is a lie; I still pick my face and my cuticles when I am highly stressed. I still use creative excuses when someone asks me what happened to my alabaster skin. I still use food to push down intense emotions. The difference is I am aware of what my triggers are now, I am honest with myself and although I can flip into those self-defeating modes I also am able to come back from them quickly with the tools I have learnt.  I am able to ask for help when I feel like I cannot cope, I express my feelings, rather than keeping them all bottled inside and I am not punitive about my slip ups. I acknowledge the emotions or my reactions straight away, I forgive myself and I let it go or I face up to whatever is going on for me that has triggered that behaviour.

Looking after ourselves is a lifelong commitment and it does not end with our physical selves. The more work I do on myself the more inclined I am to want to give back, because I realise I am not alone and I am not the only person who has ever felt the way I do or experienced what I have experienced. Encouraging people to talk about their troubles and to help them help themselves, to get the help they deserve, particularly when in crisis is what I get the most satisfaction from in life. My message to women or men who have self-destructive behaviour is do not be afraid to reach out, there is always someone to lean on until you are able to stand on your own feet. Please do not suffer in silence and learn to let go of the guilt. We are all unique and special in our own way, embrace your ‘uniqueness’ and be kind to yourself, it is amazing how much love you are filled with and surrounded by; how much gratitude you have for life when you are able to release your negative thinking and patterning. I absolutely revel in my ‘uniqueness’ as an adult; I feel blessed beyond words for the life I have and the person I have become. Self-acceptance really is the key to recovery!"

Please feel free to comment below.

For more on self-harm and to seek immediate help, please click here: http://au.reachout.com/What-is-self-harm

Giuliana & Bill: baby Edward - first photo

Is this not the most beautiful celeb baby mag cover you've ever seen? Giuliana and Bill Rancic are showing off their baby boy!

Two weeks after becoming a family, the proud new parents are revealing the first photos of their new addition - a son they named Edward Duke Rancic - in the latest issue of [US] Life & Style magazine.

The cute baby boy was born via gestational carrier in Denver on August 29, with Giuliana and Bill saying they are "blessed beyond words."

"[He's] got Giuliana's dimples!" Bill tells the magazine, adding: "It's amazing how maternal instincts have taken over, and Giuliana's just supermom."

Adds Giuliana: "Edward is Bill's late dad's name and my dad's name," Giuliana explains. "It was a way to honor them. And Duke means leader."

Giuliana is taking some time off from her shows 'Fashion Police' and 'E! News' to spend time with Edward, and she will then be on-air, hosting the 'Live From the Red Carpet' Emmys coverage September 23.

"Coming back to E! for one night then back to changing diapers:)" she Tweeted yesterday.

Massive congrats to the couple!

For more, go here: http://au.eonline.com/news/345089/Giuliana-and-Bill-Rancic-See-First-Photo-of-Baby-Edward

Cystic fibrosis: "I cried for my child every day for five years."

These are the words of Donna O'Neill Eaton, about her son Saxon, age 7 [pictured above age 5].

"Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is not something any parent wants to hear that their "seemingly" perfectly newborn healthy baby has. 

Some parents of a CF baby get to believe that for three or four weeks after the birth - they believe what they have is a 'perfect' and healthy baby. 

Then you receive the news - it is picked up from the newborn heel prick test - and life as you know it will never be the same again. 

And you grieve for the loss of that perfectly healthy baby you thought you had. For me I grieved for five years, and for those five years I pretty much cried every day. To me it was like a "death".

One of my closest friends was grieving for her brother's death at the time and when she talked to me about how she felt, I knew exactly what she was feeling as I felt the same. Yet here I was holding my baby in my arms.

Cystic Fibrosis is the most common, genetically acquired, life-shortening chronic illness affecting young Australians today. It primarily affects the lungs and the digestive system, however, it also affects a number of other organs and systems. 

Complications increase with age, requiring ever increasing levels of (self) care and support. On average one in 25 people carry the CF gene (most of whom are unaware they are carriers).

Every parent's story of a child with CF is different. I know we have been very lucky with Saxon's health, as far as CF goes. This also made me racked with guilt as I constantly felt guilty about feeling so bad about his diagnosis, as health-wise he was really healthy for a CF baby.

I am in contact with many families and young adults and some older adults with CF. It is very hard to read about all the hospital admissions, the treatments that they are doing, the pain associated with some treatments and procedures. As is seeing the children on the lung transplant lists, and the children and adults that didn't make it before donor lungs became available. 

It would be so lovely to be free of these constraints of living without being in constant "flight and fight" mode. But that is life as a parent to a child with CF. Our children are amazing; they are put through so much yet always - once through it - bounce back like nothing happened, with giant smiles on their faces, ready to take on what life has to offer. 

It would be so lovely to be free of these constraints of living without being in constant "flight and fight" mode. But that is life as a parent to a child with CF. Our children are amazing; they are put through so much yet always - once through it - bounce back like nothing happened, with giant smiles on their faces, ready to take on what life has to offer. 

Our fundraiser is called "65kms for Cystic Fibrosis" and we are doing a non-stop relay of 65kms on a treadmill at our local gym, Jetts Fitness, Peregian Springs, this Saturday May 12.

Our donation page is http://www.everydayhero.com.au/65_kms_for_cystic_fibrosis and we hope to raise $6500 for the Cystic Fibrosis annual fundraising day, '65 Roses Day.'"

The constant battle that we as parents go through and what our children have to go through because of CF: there is not one hour in the day that I don't think about Saxon's CF when he is with me. 

For example I take him to school and hear a child in his class cough; my instant reaction is, was that one of his friends? Do they sit near him? And then I analyse what type of cough I think it was - wet/dry? 

Or, I hear him do a little cough and my ears prick up and I silently hope that it was nothing, and he was just clearing his throat. And on it goes.

And its not just about coughs, but the washing of hands with antibacterial soap - anything less than perfect is not good enough. Keeping away from stagnant water, the hose water [as it's untreated tank water], even the neighbour washing his car! It's all about bacteria - which you, as CF parent learn - can be extremely harmful.

Certainly, it teaches you the value of life and living it. That is why me and three other CF mums have decided to set up a fundraiser, inspired by the incredible amount of life that our children have and to inspire us to do something to create more awareness and much needed funds that can help so many living with CF, which will hopefully aid our dream of CF not being an abbreviation for Cystic Fibrosis anymore; instead for: "Cure Found".

Do you have a child with CF? Please, share your story below. If you'd like to be a part of Donna's fundraising efforts, please click away at links above.