Valerie Harper has insisted that she’s “feeling good” despite the fact that she’s now been battling lung cancer for around two years, while she also admitted that she’s ready to die.
75-year-old Harper , who has appeared in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda , was originally only given three months to live after she was diagnosed with the rare condition back in 2013. However, she is insistent that she is completely at peace with her diagnosis.
“I’m ready. I’m ready to go,” Harper explained to People . “Maybe that’s the secret. That I’m absolutely – I don’t want to, my God, I want to live to be 102. But I am not banking on anything, really, because we shouldn’t. We don’t know what’s around the corner. I think you just take each day and get the best out of it and do what you can and have fun.”
Harper also opened up about her daily ritual, admitting that she tries to forget about her plight. But sometimes, she can’t help but overreact to headaches and migraines.
“When I wake up in the morning I don’t say, ‘Oh, I have cancer.’ I say, ‘Another day. How you feeling? Good? Good.’ And when I do have little twinges of something I go, ‘Oh my God, is that a headache? What is that?’ And I say wait a day or two, it might just be a headache and usually it is… so far.”
Harper explained that doctors have been shocked and still can’t quite figure out how her lung cancer manifested itself. “The lung is usually one of the later places it lodges in your body,” she stated. “And they don’t know how it got there because the meninges keep out bacteria, infection and chemotherapy. It can’t get into the area because the lining is a protection.”
In order to keep track of her progress, Valerie Harper attends examinations and screenings every two months. But rather than being worried or alarmed by her condition, doctors are happy with her progress.
[Image via Salon ]
