William Shatner and his 61-year-old daughter revealed this week that the two of them battled cancer at the same time several years ago.Melanie Shatner Gretsch first discovered her cancer four years ago when she woke up in the middle of the night and felt a little lump on her breast that she thought might be a bug bite.She told People magazine she decided to have it checked out despite a mammogram not finding anything just five months before.DAVE COULIER REVEALS 45-POUND WEIGHT LOSS, GRUELING SIDE EFFECTS FROM CANCER FIGHTSWilliam Shatner with his daughter, Melanie Shatner, her husband, Joel Gretsch, and their daughter, Willow, in 2006.(Barry King/WireImage)Although the technician didn’t find anything during the scan the next day, "something pushed me back and said, ‘No, have her recheck it.’ She put the wand exactly where I put my finger and under her breath said, ‘Now, I would have missed that.’"She was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in her chest.Shatner said his daughter was "very conscious of the importance of her life for herself and for her family.
I was devastated."Gretsch is a mother to two daughters whom she shares with husband Joel Gretsch.Gretsch said her father told her not to worry about the medical costs and to send him the bills."Then you made me laugh so hard when I was still going to the doctor a year later," she added."You said, ‘You’ve got to get well.
We’re going to be in the poorhouse!’"LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSWilliam Shatner at MegaCon Orlando 2026 in March.(Getty Images)For the next 18 months, her life was filled with multiple rounds of chemo, 30 radiation treatments and a double mastectomy."Chemo was the most physically draining, and the radiation I found so emotionally draining," she admitted.Just as she was nearing the end of her treatments, a lump appeared on her dad’s cheek.He said a family doctor told him it was just a blocked saliv...