Valerie Harper May Join 'DWTS' After Beating Brain Cancer in Great Act of Bravery

vrijdag 30 augustus 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Kiri Blakeley 13 hours ago

It was only in March that Valerie Harper was tragically diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given only three months to live. OMG! How terrible. What would you do if given only three months to live? Well, if you're Valerie, who starred in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, you not only live for longer than anticipated, but you live out loud! You live like crazy. You live like everyone should live. You go on Dancing with the Stars! For it's rumored that Valerie will be in the new DWTS lineup this fall!

The official cast won't be announced for another couple of weeks, but TMZ reports that Valerie will be one of the cast, along with Leah Remini, Snooki, Amber Riley from Glee, Elizabeth Berkley, and Christina Milian. Hey, I love Valerie and will be rooting for her, but my money is on Elizabeth. Let's not forget how she shimmied down a stripper pole in Showgirls.

If Valerie does join the cast, that's gobsmackingly inspiring. The amount of work the cast members do is legendary. They really get ripped and whipped into shape. The rehearsals alone are grueling. Can a woman who has brain cancer find the energy to compete on this level? Not to mention that she's 74?

Well, might as well try, right? If she's got only a certain amount of time to live, she should go for all of her dreams. If this was one of them, then that's awesome she is trying it. TMZ says she's partnered up with Tristan McManus and has already been practicing.

And who knows, maybe the physical demands of the show will help her health. As it is, she's reportedly "almost in remission," and her doctor says she has "defied the odds." In an interview with Meredith Vieira that will air in September, Valerie says, "I just want to live every moment to the fullest."

And if that means competing on Dancing With the Stars, I'm sure she'll have millions cheering her on. So much of your health can depend on your mental attitude. Valerie has a miraculous one.

Will you watch DWTS this season? What do you think about Valerie possibly competing?

Image via Getty/Charlie Gallay

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12-Year-Old Boy With Scary Brain Eating Amoeba to Be Taken Off Life Support

maandag 26 augustus 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Sasha Brown-Worsham 6 hours ago

In a horrifying story out of Florida, a 12-year-old boy has lost his battle to fight the brain eating amoeba he caught while swimming in a ditch this summer. Zachary Reyna of LaBelle, Florida was diagnosed with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is a form of meningitis caused by the amoeba naegleria fowleri. He never recovered.

The amoeba infects people when they take in contaminated water through the nose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although it is rare, when it strikes, it is often deadly. 

Heartbreakingly, Reyna is never going to recover and though he is on a ventilator for today, his parents plan to take him off tonight. As a parent, it is something that just sends chills down your spine. How could this happen?

Apparently Zach was infected while knee boarding with friends in a ditch near his family's home on August 3. Earlier this month, a girl contracted the same deadly illness and managed to survive it, but it is rare to survive once infected.

For parents, it's important to know the initial symptoms. They are vomiting, fever, nausea, and stiff neck. As it progresses patients exhibit confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations. Death can come between one and 12 days.

This infection is more common in the Southeastern United States and can best be avoided by wearing a nose plug. Of course, it can also be avoided by never allowing children to go into the water, but how realistic is that option?

Sadly, there are many dangers we can't see and we can't anticipate. As parents, our job is to keep our kids as safe as we can by playing the odds. While I would likely not play in a ditch, I can imagine to a 12-year-old boy, that would look like a great time. Never in a million years could anyone have imagined what horror might come from it.

It's a tragedy, to be sure. But it's rare. And while we can talk about nose plugs and what to look out for, the reality is, we can't avoid every danger in the world.

Reyna's parents plan to donate his organs in the ultimate act of generosity. My heart is broken for them and I hope they can find strength in this horrible time.

Do you worry about this amoeba?

Image via Mike Fisher /Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sasha Brown-Worsham

can't decide whether she is a mother, writer, or runner, but is usually all three at some point each day. She has written for dozens of print magazines, newspapers, and websites. She rarely ever writes on bathroom walls.

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