AARP Magazine interviewed actress Valerie Harper (who played Rhoda on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) about her life with terminal brain cancer. Her doctors told her she had only three months to live, but two years after that she’s still active.
Some key excerpts that pertain to those of us with Parkinson’s disease:
The power of science
Every day they are coming up with new stuff. There’s now an immunotherapy that builds up your immune system to fight the cancer. The drug I’m on, Tarceva, has been pinpointed to attack my particular cancer, which is pretty amazing. That’s why I want to make sure that people understand there are possibilities. I’m a perfect person to tell people not to give up.
The power of exercise
My doctors insist that I exercise. I walk every day — unless I can avoid Tony [her husband]! Push yourself, even if you feel tired. To my brothers and sisters with cancers who have a very different situation than I do and have pain, even sitting on the couch doing arm exercises is good.
The power of what works
I get acupuncture but stopped it, and drinking the herb tea the acupuncturist gave me, for a month last fall. Then I had an episode. I said to Tony, “I keep texting ‘and,’ but that’s not the word I’m trying to text.” He took me immediately to the emergency room, where tests showed a slight enhancement of that protein that my doctors did not like. So they changed the way I was taking my medications a little, and I went back to acupuncture and drinking herb tea. My doctors said, “Whatever you’re doing, don’t change anything again!”
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