Valerie Harper discusses her terminal cancer diagnosis on “The Doctors”

Iconic actress Valerie Harper, famed for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff, Rhoda, revealed this week that in January she learned of a terminal brain cancer diagnosis. Doctors discovered that she suffers from leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare and incurable form of brain cancer, and have given Harper as little as three months to live. On Monday, March 11, Valerie Harper will bravely discuss her condition in her first on-camera interview following the announcement of her diagnosis when she appears on the syndicated talk show The Doctors. Valerie Harper will also be joined on The Doctors by Cloris Leachman and Ed Asner, two of her castmates from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

The Doctors co-host and ER physician Dr. Travis Stork will take viewers through an in-depth look at the probable course of this disease and explains why it is so difficult to treat.

“I have to tell you, I am blown away by her resilience and her resolve in the face of such a dire, dire diagnosis,” says Dr. Stork.

Valerie Harper’s husband, Tony Cacciotti, also joins the show, where he reveals that he initially hid the diagnosis from his wife because of the short prognosis after first hearing it from her doctors.

“I didn’t get [the diagnosis] because my husband hid it,” Valerie Harper shares with The Doctors. “Poor baby. He was so bereft. [The doctors] said there is nothing we can do for her, and [she has] three to six months, maybe.”

The Doctors also brings in the team of Cedars Sinai physicians treating Valerie Harper’s brain cancer — neuro-oncologist Dr. Jeremy Rudnick and oncologist Dr. Ronald Natale. They will shed light on her specific treatment.

Valerie Harper appears on The Doctors Monday, March 11. Check your local listings for channel and air time in your area.

______________________

Photo of Dr. Andrew Ordon, Dr. Lisa Masterson, Valerie Harper, Dr. Travis Stork: CBS Television Distribution/Stage 29 Productions