Valerie Harper is the epitome of a true fighter. Last year when she publicly announced that she’d been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, doctors also gave a grim prognosis with a minimum three-month life expectancy.
However, the bleak possibilities didn’t keep her down. Harper has become a walking inspiration for millions as she’s beat the odds of the initial predictions.
The former Mary Tyler Moore Show actress recently spoke with Closer Weekly about some of the positive changes in her life when she revealed that her condition is actually improving.
“My last scans have been positive, and my doctors are very happy,” Harper said. “[The oncologist] looked at the scans and said, ‘Oh my God, Valerie, this is very encouraging.'”
While Harper’s health has taken an optimistic turn, the 74-year-old actress was also quoted by the publication declaring that she is “cancer-free.” So, she took time to personally address the matter and offer clarity. On Wednesday, Apr. 16, she released a brief statement in regards to the “erroneous quote.”
“I am not ‘absolutely cancer-free.’ I wish I were,” she said in the statement. “Right now what I am is cautiously optimistic about my present condition and I have hope for the future.” She went on to explain that her doctors still do not associate her condition with the term “in remission.”
“He likes to say, ‘I give you a treatment, and it’s either responsive or nonresponsive, and you are having a phenomenal response,” she explained. Although she is responding exceptionally well to the treatment she’s receiving, it doesn’t mean that she’s been cured. However, she’s determined not to let anything keep her down, reports People.
“My cancer is incurable and terminal, but guess what? Not today!” Harper told the publication on Wednesday. “There is all manner of suffering in the world, not all of it by any stretch related just to cancer or to illness, but all kinds of suffering.”
Image via Valerie Harper, Facebook