Shannen Doherty opens up about her 90s co-star who helped her navigate her cancer journey.
On her latest podcast episode, Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty, the reality TV star revealed that David Charvet showed her the way to a new doctor after she was feeling nervous and uncertain following her 2015 breast cancer diagnosis. She shared in the podcast episode, “I was definitely feeling adrift, if you will, in my cancer journey, and I knew that something needed to change,” adding, “I just didn’t know how to change it.”
Charvet introduced the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum to her oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Piro, who was a guest on the podcast. Doherty recalled, “A lot of patients feel as if they don’t have the right to ask for a better doctor or to change doctors, or they’re scared their insurance won’t cover a new doctor,” adding, “I felt that for a minute until I got a phone call from my friend Chris, who said he was good friends with a mutual friend of ours, David.”
She told Piro in the episode, “And David really wanted to introduce me to this oncologist that he said saved his father’s life with cancer and he felt very strongly about, and that meeting happened to be when I met you.”
Piro on the other hand stated that Charvet(whose wife he had known since she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2012) invited him to dinner where he crossed paths with Doherty to see if he could make for a good cancer doctor for the Charmed alum’s cancer journey. Piro added about the interaction, “We just jumped right in and within five minutes, we were pretty connected and pretty sure that we understood one another and that we’d be a great team.”
The 52-year-old actress continued, “You understood why I was feeling a bit lost and you definitely had opinions on what should change and what needed to get done immediately,” adding, “And I really respected the fact that you had a strong standpoint, and you weren’t intimidated by who I am but also, more importantly, by my personality. You have just as big of a personality as I do, so we were able to really mesh on that level.”
Doherty further revealed that Piro suggested she come to the clinic immediately to get herself checked. She shared, “I felt like, This is somebody who is going to really be thoughtful with my care, which was incredibly important to me,” adding, “And he understands that there’s nothing more integral than me tackling this and getting better.”
After battling cancer since 2015, Doherty did a cover story in November with People Magazine, where she revealed that the disease had spread to her bones. She further stated that she was confident about her recovery since she was receiving the treatment she needed and hoped to get into clinical trials developing new treatments for metastatic breast cancer. She said at the time, “I don’t want to die,” adding, “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done.”