Closer USA – August 05, 2019

I

n January 2013,ValerieHarper

wasdiagnosedwithleptomenin-

gealcarcinomatosis,a rarecompli-

cationfromcancerthataffectsthe

li ningsurroundingthebrain,and

was toldsheonlyhadthreemonths

to live.Thoughshecouldhaveallowedfear

to cloudthetimeshehadleft,theRhodastar

vowedto fightbackandmakethemostof ev-

ery day.“WhatI didwasbuildit intoanop-

portunityto liveinthenowbecausetimeis

wasting,”ValerietoldCloserinMarch2014.

Sincethen,shehasastonishedher doctors

and beatentheoddsbysurvivingforfive

years—butnowherfamilyis prayingthat

the actresscanpulloffonemoremiracle.

Valerie’sfriends,her fansandtheHolly-

woodcommunityhaveralliedaroundthe

todealwithherweakeningcondi-

spirits,”Deanna,afamilyfriend

whohassofarraisedmorethan

$55,000 through a GoFundMe

campaigntohelpthecouplepay

By LOUISE A. BARILE

Valerie Harper

cancer has spread, so they’ve changed her

chemo. It’s expensive and the costs have

been building up for years.”

Going public with their financial difficul-

ties hasn’t been easy, but it felt necessary to

make sure that Valerie continues to receive

the best care possible. “Tony and Val are

both very proud people, and they would not

be asking if it wasn’t needed,” reveals Ma-

rio Della Casa, an artist and close friend of

the family’s. “Tony especially — he normally

wouldn’t ask someone for a piece of bread if

he was hungry — but this has become big-

ger than him. Valerie has always been a very

independent and strong woman, and she

wouldn’t accept help unless she absolutely

needed it. The medications and treatments

she needs go way beyond the scope of what

her insurance will cover.”

MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE

After surviving lung cancer in 2009, the

iconic Mary Tyler Moore Show sidekick

was ready for another fight. “Lepto usually

comes after you’ve had cancer in other plac-

es,” explains Valerie, who successfully kept

it at bay with a medication called Tarceva

and a good attitude. “It’s about uniting body,

mind and spirit,” she confides, noting that

SIX YEARS AFTER RECEIVING A TERMINALDIAGNOSIS,

THE BELOVED TV STAR FACES DIRENEWCHALLENGES

Miracle

Praying for

a

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