"I'm Not Dying Until I Do," Valerie Harper Addresses Terminal Brain Cancer Diagnosis, Stays Positive in First TV Interview

Last week, it was revealed that Emmy-winning actress Valerie Harper had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, but she is staying positive according to an interview with the TODAY Show's Savannah Guthrie. Simply put, the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" star is staying optimistic despite her three to six months of life expectancy news.

Harper says:

"'Incurable' is a tough word . . . I'm not dying until I do. I promise I won't. [I am] more than hopeful . . . I have an intention to live each moment fully. I don't mean this to be Pollyanna-I allow myself the grief. I also feel so much better not hiding," she says of coming clean with the public. 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."

Mstarz recently reported on Harper's illness. Here is an excerpt:

Television icon Valerie Harper revealed in an exclusive People magazine interview the sad and unfortunate news that she was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The beloved "Mary Tyler Moore Show" starlet confirms that on January 15, it was discovered that she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis - a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Doctors believe that the 73-year-old "Rhoda" actress only has approximately three more months to live. According to Harper, "I don't think of dying... I think of being here now."

According to People, the former Broadway dancer was out promoting her new memoir "I, Rhoda" when she suddenly fell ill in January - "The side of my face started to feel kind of numb. I was slurring my speech," Harper remembers. She was thrilled when doctors told her it wasn't a stroke - but then they delivered the even more horrible news. Upon hearing that she was diagnosed with the incurable disease, Harper tells People, "I was stunned... And in the next minute I thought, 'This could draw more attention to cancer research.' I think there's an opportunity to help people."

For now, Harper has decided to live life out to the fullest - even with terminal brain cancer. "I'm of the thinking that we're all terminal; no one is getting out of this alive," Harper told Yahoo! Health last month. "So you shouldn't start sitting Shiva before it's time. Live the best life you can. Be as healthy as possible."