Valerie Harper of TV’s “Rhoda” fame announced that she has terminal brain cancer; doctors gave her 3 months to live. Still, she told a national TV audience Monday on the syndicated "The Doctors," she had a bad moment when she got the diagnosis - and when she thinks ahead to things she wants to do next month, she has to "hope I'll still be around."
After first hearing the news, she said, "I broke down. I absolutely sobbed. I let myself do it. Then I said, 'Okay, you've been the drama queen. Now get over it and do the pasta.' " http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/harper-told-terminal-cancer-diagnosis-article-1.1285120#ixzz2NRXjejY0
Ms. Harper is one of many famous individuals who have had brain cancer: Cleveland’s own Al Lerner, singer Tammy Terrell who was a partner of Marvin Gaye in the 60s, athletes “Lance Armstrong and Scott Hamilton, musician George Gershwin, author Mary Shelly who wrote Frankenstein, Irene Ryan of The Beverly Hillbillies, actresses Sandy Duncan, and Elizabeth Taylor, movie critic Gene Siskel of Siskel and Ebert, and of course, [politicians Senators] Ted Kennedy and Arlen Spector.” http://www.caring.com/questions/famous-people-with-brain-cancer
When we hear of celebrities having a terminal condition we often think could this happen to me? What answers do we seek and how do we get it? Brain cancer, or brain tumor as it is often called, can be terminal; however, there are benign brain tumors which means it is a tumor, a solid or fluid-filled cystic lesion, but non-cancerous.
Brain cancer can begin either in the brain or a metastic site where it’s found in the brain but its origin was somewhere else in the body. “Brain tumors can cause many symptoms. Some of the most common are
- Headaches, usually worse in the morning
- Nausea and vomiting
- Changes in your ability to talk, hear, or see
- Problems with balance or walking
- Problems with thinking or memory
- Muscle jerking or twitching
- Numbness or tingling in arms or legs
Doctors diagnose brain tumors by doing a neurologic exam and tests including an MRI, CT scan, and biopsy. People with brain tumors have several treatment options. The options are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Many people get a combination of treatments.” www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/braincancer.html National Cancer Institute
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