Burkitt Lymphoma & Its Origin Point
- Dance Moms star and cancer survivor, Abby Lee Miller, 57, shares that she sold her dance studio in Pennsylvania.
- In April 2018, Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Burkitt, which is rare (making up 1% to 2% of all lymphomas), typically starts in the abdomen, where it forms a large tumor.
- It can spread rapidly to the brain and spinal fluid.
- This fast-growing form of cancer may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries or other organs, and may spread to the central nervous system.
- Many people find the arts, like dance, to be a comfort through the cancer journey.
The Daily Mail reports how Miller explained she feels “bittersweet” about the change. She shared in a clip to Instagram her emotional feelings around the decision; Miller has been involved with the studio since 1993. Daily Mail reports it will become a daycare center.
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Miller elaborates further on the decision, saying, “It was time … I’m not in Pittsburgh teaching – I’m all over the world teaching. It was time, and I’m very proud to say that my studio, my building … is going to a very great business. It’s going to somebody that needed it, somebody that wanted it, not another dance teacher.”
Miller’s Battle with Cancer
In April 2018, Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Burkitt, which is rare (making up 1% to 2% of all lymphomas), typically starts in the abdomen, where it forms a large tumor. It can spread rapidly to the brain and spinal fluid. According to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, this fast-growing form of cancer may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries or other organs, and may spread to the central nervous system.
Miller, who was living in a halfway house in Long Beach, Calif., at the time, began experiencing pain. She had just been released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville, Calif., where she served nearly a year-long sentence after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud in June 2016.
Her Treatment Path & Surgical Complications
Experiencing pain she had never felt before, Miller went to a local urgent care clinic, tests were done, but she was sent home, undiagnosed. Because her jaw hurt, she went to a dentist who “did an ice cube check on every tooth and said there’s nothing wrong with your teeth,” she previously told SurvivorNet. But the pain persisted.
Miller wound up at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where she was discharged after three days in “worse pain than I went in with.” Her medical team suggested she go to a pain management clinic.
Several days later, Abby Lee Miller returned to the hospital, barely able to move her arms, legs or jaw, and underwent emergency surgery. Her doctor “went to my spinal cord and meticulously pulled a slime, a tar-like substance, away from the spinal cord,” she said. It was complications she suffered during this surgery that have bound her to an electric wheelchair.
In May 2019, it was determined that Miller was cancer-free and began making good progress in her recovery. As of April 2021, she still has PET scans every three months to check for any recurrence.
Speaking with SurvivorNet in an earlier interview, Miller says, of her recovery process and being in a wheelchair, “Walking is an ongoing goal; of course it has to be ongoing. It never, ever stops and just, you know, transferring into cars, getting out of cars, being able to walk from my bed to the bathroom and back again, little things that to anybody else seem so ordinary. For me it’s so difficult.”
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Types of Biopsy
Overcoming Cancer & Solace in Art Through A Cancer Battle
Miller, who seeped in the dance arts, knows the power of leaning on art during challenges, particularly medical challenges like cancer. Many people turn to the arts as an emotional outlet during – or after – cancer. Whether you’re a trained or professional artist or not, the arts can have a helpful effect during a cancer battle, or after cancer.
Miller tells SurvivorNet in an earlier interview about being an artist and public figure, “If you’re going to be in the public eye and put yourself and your craft out there, whether you’re a singer, dancer, actress, or artist, it’s like putting your heart on a platter and somebody is going to take a fork and stab it, and they’re going to stab it over and over,”
“That’s a fact,” she says. “That is what happens. So you have to be so passionate and care so much about your art that it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what 50 people say because another 950 love it. So that’s kind of where I stand and I’ve taught my students that, and I follow that same lead.”
While going through cancer, try to find small moments of joy – be it from writing, painting, singing, dancing, or playing with your dog. Having a positive outlook and an upbeat attitude can help the cancer battle.
How I Made It Through Cancer: Painting & Dreaming
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