Known and loved for her frank and funny role as upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Valerie Harper has revealed she is facing terminal brain cancer. The actress, 73, tells People mag (on newsstands Friday) that she got the diagnosis on Jan. 15.
Tests revealed she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Harper tells the mag she is opting for chemo, but, according to People, her doctors say she may only have three months left to live. “I don’t think of dying,” says Harper, who has been married to Tony Cacciotti since 1987. “I think of being here now.”
Harper has been told by doctors that she may only have three months to live. That Harper said something as positive as this is a real testament to who she is. Many people would be upset, angry and perhaps scoff at life. But Harper seems determined not only to fight but to live in her remaining time.
We truly wish her the best and hope that she has a miraculous turnaround.
