Shannen Doherty died on July 13 after living with stage 4 breast cancer. She was 53.
Shannen Doherty's close friend and doctor, oncologist Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, is recalling the late actress' last moments. In an interview with People, Piro -- a doctor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles -- opens up about staying by Doherty's side until she died on July 13 after living with stage 4 breast cancer.
Piro tells the outlet that Doherty was "a step above positive" when it came to how she viewed her prognosis.
"In her mind, she was not wanting to consider any other alternative than 'we were beating this and we were engaged in life,'" Piro says. "We didn't really talk about what that meant in terms of additional time for her because that just wasn't how she operated. She wanted to live every day, not as if it were her last day, but as if it were the beginning of a whole another chapter for her."
The Charmed alum was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Following numerous rounds of chemotherapy, she announced she was in remission in 2017, but revealed in February 2020 that it came back as metastatic stage 4 cancer.
Doherty previously said that she and Piro had "a great relationship, one of mutual respect."
"He respects that I always come in with new questions and he takes the time to address and answer all of them.... The key is to find a doctor who listens to you and appreciates your concerns," she captioned an Instagram posted from September 2016. "Not every cancer patient is the same. Also, it took me a lot of meetings to find my dream team. Don't settle."
In June, Doherty emotionally revealed on her Let's Be Clear podcast that she would be undergoing chemotherapy for her stage 4 breast cancer after the makeup of her cancer cells progressed.
"I thought I was fine. I am having to go back on chemo and it's really hard, like the idea of going through that all over again has wrecked me," Doherty said as she became emotional at the time. "It's really hard. Like, the idea of going through that all over again has wrecked me. It's wrecked me in a sense of, yes, I knew that I had stage 4, yes, I knew that it was really serious, yes, I've taken steps to protect my family and clean up a lot of stuff. But when you have to go to the hospital and you have to, you know, get put under [and] a port put in you, it becomes very real in an incredibly different way."
The last episode of Let's Be Clear aired on July 8 almost a week before her death.
"We kept going until we couldn't go any more," Piro reveals. "The last conversation that we had, she was in the process of realizing that things had taken a pretty significant turn. The conversation was about love and support and caring and still fighting through. She wanted to continue to take treatment and fight through, even though her physical condition had taken a bit of a downturn. And so we did."
"Things turned much more difficult in the last couple of weeks, and that's when it became clear that it was heading in a different direction," Piro says. "We continued to fight while putting in more support and we just kept loving and hoping and supporting."
Piro shares that he remained by Doherty's side during her final moments, along with some of her love ones, including her dog Bowie.
"In the last few hours, she was in a place where she was very comfortable and sleeping and transitioning, and she was surrounded by some of her very close friends," he recalls. "The room was surrounded by a select group of friends that were giving her a lot of care and support. It was somber and sad, but beautiful and loving. The hardest thing about this was that she wasn't ready to leave because she loved life."
In December 2023, the Beverly Hills, 90210 star spoke to ET about the importance of using her podcast to amplify her battle with cancer and share her own story.
"It's all about the past, the present, the future, hopes and dreams. I get very personal," she said. "I tell it all: what happened in my three marriages, what happened on Charmed, what happened on 90210. I talk about losing my father and what that meant to me. It's extremely, extremely personal. I talk about my cancer journey, which is obviously a huge component to the podcast."
Among the tribulations she faced, Doherty was informed that she had to undergo brain surgery after her cancer returned -- around the time that she learned of her then-husband Kurt Iswarienko's alleged affair, and subsequently filed for divorce. In June, Doherty requested spousal support from Iswarienko as she revealed that the residuals from Charmed had dried up.
Still, she was optimistic about her future.
"I've loved in the past, and even though it didn't work out, it was still really beautiful, and I learned a lot from the person and appreciated them," Doherty explained. "Even with the marriage that is now over, there were some great times."
That ever-optimistic nature is a part of Doherty's longstanding legacy of treating others with kindness, Piro says.
"This tremendous love for life was inspired by a love for people and a love for being treated well," he tells People. "And I think that that grew out of being in public eye from a very young age and feeling misunderstood most of her life. She would want us to live our lives as strongly as we can, committed to our convictions and to not allow others to label you or to misrepresent you and stop you from living your best life."
Since her death, Doherty has been remembered for her career, life and friendship by fans, friends and co-stars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, and many more.
The star's mom, Rosa Doherty, paid tribute to the late actress for the first time in a statement to ET two days after her death.
"She is my beautiful girl and my heart," Rosa said. "Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life. We are truly appreciative."
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