Shannen Doherty's Doctor Opens Up About 'Sad' & 'Beautiful' Final Moments: 'She Wasn't Ready To Leave'

Shannen Doherty fought until the very end.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 star’s oncologist Dr. Lawrence D. Piro opened up to People on Monday about the actress’ cancer treatment and final moments. He was one of a few people with her when she passed away on Saturday at age 53, he explained:

“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. 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.”

As we covered, in late June, the Charmed alum told fans on her Let’s Be Clear podcast that she had reached a hopeful update in her journey with new treatment options available to her. She was planning to take advantage of more treatment, but was also nervous about what it would do to her body, noting:

“I’m having to go back on chemo and it’s really hard. The idea of going through that all over again has wrecked me.”

The doctor from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center confirmed she was deeply committed to maximizing her time on earth. Calling her “a very intelligent person” who “was a very active participant in her entire health journey,” he recalled:

“Whenever she learned some new fact or some new idea in her medical journey, she would immediately call me or forward something to me and we would discuss it and see whether it had any relevance to her scenario and where it would fit into the scheme of things for her. I was always amazed with the way in which she could separate her own emotions about being so young and being on such a difficult journey from the fact-finding part. She was so razor focused and level-headed about those things.”

She was also “a step above positive” when it came to her prognosis, as he went on:

“In her mind, she was not wanting to consider any other alternative than ‘we were beating this and we were engaged in life.’ 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.”

Because of this, they tried everything they could until her final moments, he continued:

“We kept going until we couldn’t go any more. 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.”

Even when they began to reach a “limited situation of options” and things got “much more difficult in the last couple of weeks,” Shannen wasn’t ready to give up. Dr. Piro noted:

“Still, the conversation was about, ‘What can we do within those limitations?’ as opposed to, ‘Let’s do nothing.’ That wasn’t even open for discussion, because that’s not how Shannen lived. She was an incredible warrior in everything she did.”

While Shannen was fighting for her life, she was also fighting with her ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko, from whom she filed for divorce in April 2023 after finding out he allegedly cheated on her right before going in for brain surgery. He denied cheating but they carried on with the divorce — until he allegedly started trying to stall the case so he wouldn’t have to pay alimony. They ultimately settled just ONE day before her death, with the Heathers star giving up “any right to receive spousal or partner support.”

Kurt’s decision to drag this legal battle out amid such a difficult time for his ex-wife has been highly criticized, and while Dr. Lawrence couldn’t deny that it didn’t add a complicating factor to his patient’s life, he insisted it didn’t impact Shannen’s treatment. He mused:

“I never got the sense that that emotional challenge was draining her ability to continue to fight on the medical side. It certainly made it more challenging, but she’s such a winner that I feel like she pulled all the resources necessary to give the best fight against cancer, even though she was being very emotionally challenged. She fought so hard and she didn’t believe that it would ever be over, which kind of makes everybody around you believe that, too, because you want to believe that.”

Oof. That makes it all the more painful to finally have to say goodbye. She fought so hard to live — dating all the way back to 2015 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. We’re glad she had such a strong support system around her at the end, and a doctor who she trusted so much!

Having spent so much time with Shannen, the medical expert revealed what he hopes the TV star’s legacy will be, too. He concluded:

“This tremendous love for life was inspired by a love for people and a love for being treated well. 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.”

A powerful lesson to learn from her brave fight and impactful life! Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Share them (below)…

[Image via MEGA/FayesVision/WENN]