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William Shatner and his daughter Melanie Shatner Gretsch have a new lease on life following a shared health battle.
In July 2022, Melanie, now 61, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. But while she was knee-deep in treatment, less than a year later, her dad William, 95, was diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma that had spread to his lungs and brain.
Melanie Shatner on her dad William Shatner's support while battling breast cancer
Melanie started treatment for her stage 4 cancer immediately after being diagnosed, undergoing a year and a half of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and 30 radiation therapy treatments, telling People in a new interview that she found radiation the most "emotionally draining" and chemotherapy the most "physically draining."
As a mom of two with husband Joel Gretsch, also an actor, she was most concerned about the impact of her condition on her family, with her dad emotionally telling the publication: "I was devastated."
However, he was also with her every step of the way, especially when it came to financial support. "You said to me, 'I do not want you to worry. Just send me the bills,'" she remembered to her dad. "Then you made me laugh so hard when I was still going to the doctor a year later. You said, 'You've got to get well. We're going to be in the poorhouse!'"
Why William didn't "stop his life" after melanoma diagnosis
After consulting with both their family doctor and a plastic surgeon friend when he observed a lump on his cheek, the Star Trek legend received his own diagnosis and immediately underwent surgery to remove the malignant tumor.
However, through it all, he remained just as effervescent and active, with Melanie marveling that he "wouldn't stop his life. He kept working and moving forward," adding that she and her husband often brought food over and watched movies with him.
The thought of them both going through cancer together was a difficult prospect at first. "I remember vividly thinking, 'I don't have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,'" Melanie recalled.
William, on the other hand, was a lot more optimistic. "They said, 'You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead.' See? That's my life. I think the universe is taking care of me."
How William and Melanie's cancer battles changed their family dynamic
The T.J. Hooker actor welcomed Melanie plus his two older daughters, Leslie, 67, and Lisabeth, 65, with his late first wife, actress Gloria Rand. While they were already close as a family, the difficult health battles brought them even closer.
"We're a very together family," William noted. "We're bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we've overcome." Case in point, now that both father and daughter are cancer free, they're devoting more time to being with their loved ones, including weekly family dinners involving grandkids AND great-grandkids.
"Sundays used to be three and me – now there's more than 15," the actor gushed, with his daughter adding of him: "He really is the patriarch. We say 'the Big Kahuna.'"
