Veteran sitcom actress Valerie Harper admits she was “stunned” two months ago when she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Valerie, 73, spoke with PEOPLE magazine about the diagnosis that she received on January 15.
Tests revealed the rare condition, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain.
The incurable disease accounts for less than 2% of all cancers, and “comes on quickly and progresses quickly.”
Harper has been told she has three months to live but is undergoing chemotherapy in an attempt to slow the progress of the disease.
She gained fame as Rhoda Morgenstern on the popular 70’s series ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and followed that with her own spin-off ‘Rhoda.’
The veteran actress experienced numbness in her jaw during rehearsals for her one-woman show ‘Looped’ in early January and was hospitalized for tests. A spinal tap revealed the cancer.
Harper, a “lifetime non-smoker, battled lung cancer in 2009 and admits, “I’m well past my expiration date already. I don’t think about dying. I think of being here now.”
She wed Tony Cacciotti in 1987. Their daughter Cristina Cacciotti is an actress.
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