Valerie Harper Discusses Her Brain Cancer Diagnosis on 'Today'

NBC

Valerie Harper discusses her brain cancer diagnosis with Savannah Guthrie on "Today."

Only days after publicly sharing her diagnosis of brain cancer, Valerie Harper spoke with Today's Savannah Guthrie about the support she's received and dealing with the reality of her condition. 

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"When I heard incurable ... incurable is a tough word," Harper, 73, said in excerpts of an interview to be aired on NBC's morning show on Monday. "A lot of people were calling - 'can I come by the house?' - 'are you in a wheel chair?' - because they hear it as this death sentence. Which it may be. But I'm not dying until I do. I promise I won't."

The Mary Tyler Moore Show actress revealed this past week to People that she was diagnosed in January with a form of brain cancer and that doctors told her she may have only months to live. She previously fought cancer in 2009.

About being so public with her diagnosis, she told Guthrie, "Do you what you feel. But I'm saying it feels awful damn good to be open about it, face it and see what you can do. If you die, you're not a failure. You're just somebody who had cancer. And that's the outcome."

Harper is also set to appear with her husband, Tony Cacciotti, on the daytime show The Doctors on Monday.